Minister asks for more time to work through artesian basin issues

Muttaburra’s John Seccombe said the request to extend the life of the current plan in order to work through many issues raised in community feedback means that someone was listening at last year’s consultation meetings.

He said there were a number of important issues that needed thorough investigation, including what the sale of allocations from the Basin would do to pressure.

“In areas where they want to do this, I’d like to see the pressure regimes before the GABSI scheme and now, to be sure we’re not selling off water that’s needed to hold out contamination from the catchment,” he said.

Mr Seccombe was also keen for reviewers to question how much water would be left in a ‘bank’ for the next generation.

“The whole idea of saving the water through GABSI was to have that.

“If they flog it off and the only purpose is to raise revenue, then it’s landholder and Commonwealth financial contributions that will have allowed the state government to put the water on the market.”

Mr Seccombe also had reservations about allowing people to purchase water for irrigation without proper identification of whether soil types were compatible.

The over-riding item for reviewers to consider, according to Mr Seccombe, was money to enable the continuation of the GABSI scheme. 

“We’ve had a heart starter but much more is needed,” he said.

“I’d like the federal government to agree with the states on an end date for the scheme, and then agree on the financial arrangements to make it happen.

“I want to see it finished, not fizzle out.”

The Great Artesian Basin underlies more than 1.7 million square kilometres of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory and stores in excess of 65,000 million megalitres of water. 

The current Water Resource (Great Artesian Basin) Plan 2006 was scheduled to expire on September 1. Under the proposed one-year extension, the plan’s review will occur under a slightly longer timeframe.

According to a departmental spokesman, community feedback received on the Statement of Proposals for preparing a new plan highlighted a number of issues to be considered in preparing the draft new plan.

“Extending the life of the current plan until September 1, 2017 will allow additional time to address those issues without adversely affecting water entitlement holders or the area’s natural ecosystems,” he said.

People wishing to comment on the extension proposal are invited to lodge written submissions to the Department of Natural Resources by July 1.