How water is managed in the Georgina and Diamantina water plan area now

This review is a chance to reconsider how we manage water in the Georgina and Diamantina water plan area.

The current water plan sets the rules for allocation and use of:

• surface water in watercourses (rivers, streams, creeks etc), lakes and springs
• overland flow water
• groundwater that is closely linked or connected to surface water.

A total of 6,108ML of this water is allocated through 5 entitlements (water licences).

Water in watercourses, lakes and springs

Most entitlement holders in the Georgina and Diamantina take their water directly from the watercourses. This is called unsupplemented water use.

There are no major water storages (dams) that supply supplemented water for urban use, agriculture or mining activities in the water plan area.

People do not need a water entitlement to access water when:

• their land parcel is next to or intersected by a watercourse (these are called riparian landholders)
• they are using the water for domestic or stock purposes.

This type of water access is authorised in Queensland under the Water Act 2000 (the Act).

All water taken for purposes other than stock or domestic within the Georgina and Diamantina region must be measured. This means that these water entitlement holders must have a valid water meter to measure their water usage.

As we review the water plan, we may consider limiting the taking of water for stock or domestic uses in non-riparian areas (land parcels that do not border or intersect with a watercourse). This may be needed to protect other water uses or to achieve certain outcomes of the water plan.

Overland flow

Overland flow is water that runs across the land after rainfall, either before it enters a watercourse, after it leaves a watercourse as floodwater, or after it rises to the surface naturally from underground.

The Georgina and Diamantina water plan allows for the taking of overland flow water without a water entitlement, if the water is being taken:

• for stock or domestic purposes
• to satisfy the requirements of an environmental authority issued under the Environmental Protection Act 1994, for example, to manage contaminated agricultural runoff.

Taking overland flow water for other purposes would require a water entitlement in the form of a water licence.

Overland flow water is taken using ‘works’ such as pumps, dams and/or tanks.

The current water plan started in 2004. If you had existing works to take overland flow already in place then, you can continue to take water but you must notify us of these works, using the notification of existing overland flow works form (PDF, 332KB).

This excludes works that allow taking overland flow water only for stock or domestic purposes.

If you’re building a storage to capture overland flow water, you’ll need to check if the works are assessable or accepted development. Contact us on 1800 822 100 during business hours or email NorthWPS@dlgwv.qld.gov.au for more information.

As part of this review, we’ll conduct a scientific assessment to identify overland flow storages across the water plan area.

For more information about overland flow, read:

• division 2 in the water plan for details on overland flow water management arrangements in the Georgina and Diamantina
• section 12 and schedule 3 (for definition of existing works) in the water plan for details on overland flow works and notification arrangements.

Groundwater

Groundwater (also called underground water) is the water beneath the earth's surface that occurs in pore spaces and fractures of rock formations called aquifers.

In the Georgina and Diamantina region, groundwater is managed in 3 ways:

• the water plan manages underground water in aquifers that connect with surface water
• the Water Regulation 2016 manages underground water in aquifers located within the 2 declared areas–the Greater Western and the Upper Georgina underground water areas (PDF, 2MB)– that are not part of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB)
• underground water in GAB aquifers is managed under the Great Artesian Basin and other regional aquifers) water plan. GAB aquifers are under the Georgina and Diamantina aquifers in most parts of the water plan area, except for the upper Georgina River catchment.

In this map of Queensland, you can see that the GAB (indicated in brown) lies under most of the Georgina and Diamantina catchment area.