Underground water impact report (UWIR) for the Surat CMA

The Office of Groundwater Impact Assessment (OGIA) prepares the statutory underground water impact report (UWIR) for the Surat Cumulative Management Area (Surat CMA). The current report UWIR 2021 takes effect from 1 May 2022. The first UWIR was prepared in 2012 and the second in 2016. Those reports are now superseded by the UWIR 2019, which remains in force until 1 May 2022.

The UWIR for the Surat CMA is a statutory report to provide for:

• an assessment of cumulative impacts from existing and proposed groundwater extraction by resource tenure holders
• proactive strategies for managing those impacts (e.g. make good of water supply bores, monitoring strategy, impact mitigation strategies for affected springs)
• assignment of responsibilities to individual tenure holders to implement strategies and ongoing reporting.

The resource activities that are called in the Surat CMA are coal seam gas, conventional oil and gas, and coal mining. The assessment of coal mining impacts is limited to the Surat and Clarence Moreton basins.

The assessment is completed every 3 years in order to keep up to date with changes to industry development plans and new information about the groundwater flow system.

UWIR 2021

OGIA released the consultation draft of the Surat UWIR 2021 on 29 October 2021 and sought submissions from tenure holders, bore owners and the public. Submissions closed on 26 November 2021.

OGIA considered all submissions in finalising the report before submitting for approval to the Department of Environment and Science (DES) on 17 December 2021, together with a summary report summarising the issues raised on the consultation draft and how OGIA addressed those issues in finalising the report. On 17 March 2022, DES approved the report, which took effect on 1 May 2022.

• Summary report: Surat UWIR 2021 (PDF, 2.4MB)
• Full report and appendices:
  • Report only: Surat UWIR 2021 (PDF, 16.9MB)
  • Appendices only: Surat UWIR 2021 (PDF, 11.4MB)
• Consultation submission summary report (PDF, 1.4MB)
• Public notice: approval of the Surat UWIR 2021 (PDF, 38KB)

Previous Surat UWIRs

• Surat UWIR 2019 (PDF, 37.1MB)
• Surat UWIR 2016 (PDF, 5.9MB)
• Surat UWIR 2012 (PDF, 4.1MB)

Annual reports on the UWIR

The annual reports provide updates on the implementation of the UWIR management strategies.

They also discuss any changes to circumstances that could impact on the predictions made in the UWIR (e.g. changes to development planning by resource tenure holders).

• 2022 annual report on the Surat UWIR 2021 (PDF, 1.2MB)
• 2020 annual report on the Surat UWIR 2019 (PDF, 1.1MB)
• 2018 annual report on the Surat UWIR 2016 (PDF, 1.2MB)
• 2017 annual report on the Surat UWIR 2016 (PDF, 1.0MB)
• 2014 annual report on the Surat UWIR 2012 (PDF, 2.3MB)
• 2013 annual report on the Surat UWIR 2012 (PDF, 1.7MB)

Also consider…

• Conduct a bore search for information about the predicted impacts of water extraction on individual bores.
• Read about cumulative management areas.
• View bore reports for registered bores in Queensland.
• Search for resource authority applications on your land and surrounding area.
• Get involved in groundwater monitoring for resource impacts.
• Access groundwater monitoring data.