Use of coal seam water for agriculture in Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT

The development of the coal seam gas industry in Australia has led to the extraction of large volumes of relatively salty groundwater. Once treated, this coal seam water (CSW) is being made available for irrigation and it is an opportunity for landholders to increase the level and reliability of their agricultural production. This paper reviews the use of CSW and approaches to sustainable agriculture. The review suggests that, barring technical and economic constraints, re-injection of treated CSW into stressed agricultural aquifers may provide more equitable access to water and broader economic benefits than current location-specific irrigation schemes.

KEYWORDS:

• Coal-bed methane
• sustainable water use
• enterprise transition
• Queensland
• Australia

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank many farmers and industry representatives who provided data for this research paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.