3.5 Assessment results

The assessment is built on a large body of evidence and a significant level of detail is provided in the interactive causal network . Bold hyperlinked text in the following sections denotes where causal network node descriptions are available. This brief synthesis cannot capture the full weight of evidence behind the assessment and interested readers are encouraged to interact with the causal network .

All potential impacts due to unconventional gas resource development identified by the assessment can be mitigated through ongoing compliance with existing regulatory and management controls.

The impact assessment for the Cooper GBA region determined: (i) areas of concern (i.e. how much of an endpoint area is of a particular level of concern), (ii) activities, stressors and processes of concern, and (iii) potential impacts on protected fauna, protected flora, aquifers, waterholes, wetlands and other areas.

The causal network for the Cooper GBA region consists of 1 driver node, 8 activity nodes, 19 stressor nodes, 22 process nodes and 25 endpoints ( Table 1 ). Potential impacts due to stressors associated with unconventional gas resource development on water, the environment and selected protected matters are conceptualised in Figure 3 . The percentage of the area in an endpoint that is of ‘potential concern’ is used to indicate the level of concern for each endpoint ( Figure 7 ). However, this does not distinguish between components of an endpoint that may be more or less important. For example, loss of critical food sources or breeding habitat could cause catastrophic loss of an individual endpoint. Endpoint area is the ‘potential’ distribution of protected fauna and flora, or where aquifers, waterholes, wetlands and other areas represented by the endpoint are mapped.

There are 13 environment-related endpoints that were selected to represent important environmental values in the Cooper GBA region. This includes 4 mutually exclusive endpoints that represent the extent and condition of dryland, floodplain, riparian and wetland vegetation in the Cooper GBA region. Another 9 environment-related endpoints represent agricultural grazing, aquifers, nationally and internationally listed wetlands, regionally protected areas and permanent waterholes. In addition, the 12 species prioritised for further assessment are represented by 7 protected fauna and 5 protected flora endpoints.

There are no pathways of ‘potentially high concern’ identified in the impact assessment for the Cooper GBA region. All potential impacts identified by the assessment can be mitigated through ongoing compliance with existing regulatory and management controls. Potential impacts on water, the environment, protected fauna and protected flora that are of ‘potential concern’ include 869 pathways associated with 7 of the 8 development activities, 13 of the 19 stressors, 16 of the 22 processes and 23 of the 25 endpoints ( Figure 7 ). Remaining pathways are of ‘low concern’ or ‘very low concern’ ( Table 2 ) in the Cooper GBA region.

Pathways of ‘potential concern’ are identified in 27% of the Cooper GBA region ( Table 5 ). In Figure 8 , coloured areas show areas where one or more endpoints are of ‘potential concern’. These areas can be prioritised for future assessment, mitigation and management actions. Remaining areas in the Cooper GBA region (no colour) are of ‘low concern’ (33%) or ‘very low concern’ (40%). In these areas, relative prospectivity is generally lower, meaning that unconventional gas resource development activities are unlikely to occur, or pathways from development activities to endpoints are evaluated as not possible, not material or can be avoided.

The following sections discuss potential impacts on water ( Section 4 ) and the environment ( Section 5 ) in more detail. Section 6 discusses potential impacts on protected fauna and flora.


FIGURE 7 Cross-tabulation of the level of concern for activities, stressors, processes and endpoints


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Areas of concern for each activity, stressor, process and endpoint in the causal network are identified.  These impacts range from the least (known as 'no pathway') to the highest ('potentially high concern'). For more detailed description of this image contact bioregionalassessments@awe.gov.au.

Each square in the figure represents the highest level of concern for the endpoint from all the pathways that pass through each activity, stressor or process node (Peeters et al., 2021a).

Data: Geological and Bioregional Assessment Program (2021c)

Element: GBA-COO-3-687


TABLE 5 Percentage of endpoint area (%) by level of concern and total endpoint area (km 2)


Endpoint

Very low

concern

Low concern

Potential

concern

Potentially high concern

Endpoint

area

Cooper GBA

region

 

%

%

%

%

km2

%

Agricultural productivity

45

34

21

0

100,771

76.6

Channel Country SEA condition

35

27

37

0

27,834

21.2

Coongie Lakes Ramsar wetland condition

9

33

57

0

12,392

9.4

DIWA lake condition

27

14

59

0

1,135

0.9

DIWA wetland condition

35

24

41

0

3,566

2.7

Dryland vegetation extent

and condition

43

34

23

0

88,538

67.3

Floodplain vegetation extent and condition

37

33

29

0

25,283

19.2

Riparian vegetation extent and condition

37

31

33

0

5,626

4.3

Waterhole condition

32

33

36

0

569

0.4

Wetland vegetation extent and condition

21

30

49

0

12,143

9.2

Cenozoic aquifer condition

25

74

<0.9

0

52,531

39.9

Winton-Mackunda

aquifer condition

43

57

<0.4

0

131,589

100.0

Cadna-owie – Hooray aquifer condition

43

57

<0.1

0

129,866

98.7

Persistence of dusky hopping-mouse

38

27

35

0

37,180

28.3

Persistence of grey grasswren

23

32

45

0

35,972

27.3

Persistence of kowari

81

15

4

0

9,223

7.0

Persistence of night parrot

43

33

24

0

98,845

75.1

Persistence of plains-wanderer

37

34

29

0

115,311

87.6

Persistence of yellow-footed rock-wallaby

47

37

16

0

18,936

14.4

Persistence of braided sea heath

36

31

33

0

99,448

75.6

Persistence of Indigofera oxyrachis

45

32

23

0

24,886

18.9

Persistence of Nyssanthes impervia

29

54

17

0

7,923

6.0

Persistence of Sclerolaena walkeri

48

33

19

0

80,928

61.5

Persistence of Xerothamnella parvifolia

50

29

21

0

1,542

1.2

Total in Cooper GBA regiona

40

33

27

0

131,589

100

a Total in Cooper GBA region is the percentage of the endpoint area for each level of concern. It is not the sum total of the percentage of the endpoint area for all endpoints but is the maximum level of concern in each grid cell.

Data: Geological and Bioregional Assessment Program (2021c)


FIGURE 8 Number of endpoints with pathways of ‘potential concern’ in each grid cell of the Cooper GBA region


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The greatest concentration of potential impacts (known as 'endpoints') from unconventional gas resources development in the Cooper GBA region is in the central-north part of the region (south of Windorah in Queensland). The next greatest concentration is in the south-west part of the region (around Moomba and Innamincka in South Australia).

Data: Geological and Bioregional Assessment Program (2021c)

Element: GBA-COO-3-649

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