1.1.4.4 Groundwater management and use


Groundwater planning and management is undertaken by the Queensland Government via water resource plans. The Queensland water resource plans are subordinate legislation under the Water Act 2000 (Queensland), prepared at a river basin scale, and they specify the outcomes and strategies that will be used for each plan area. They expire after ten years unless they have been formally extended. Groundwater is currently not managed under the three Queensland water resource plans in the bioregion, it is in the main, managed under state regulations. Groundwater resources of the GAB in Queensland are managed through the Great Artesian Basin water resource plan. The Queensland Government manages non-GAB groundwater extraction limits by limiting the volume of entitlement that is made available in a plan area (plan limit). In areas where overuse is an issue (e.g. Upper Condamine Alluvium), an announced entitlement process is used to manage overuse and other impacts. Water resource plans lead to the development of resource operation plans, which implement the outcomes and strategies specified in the water resource plan.

The groundwater systems within the bioregion (excluding those of the GAB) are also represented in the Basin Plan for the Murray–Darling Basin as sustainable diversion limit (SDL) resource units. Relevant NSW and Queensland water sharing plans within the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion are listed in Table 9, and aligned with corresponding SDL resource units of the Basin Plan. The Queensland water resource plans of interest are the Border Rivers, Condamine and Balonne, and Moonie River plans. These currently do not include the management of the groundwater resources. Current limits under existing planning regimes and future extraction limits for these groundwater systems are prescribed within the Basin Plan as baseline diversion limits (BDLs) and SDLs (Basin Plan 2012).

Groundwater extraction and use varies significantly between the groundwater systems in terms of volumes extracted, extraction as a proportion of estimated limits, and actual water use. Current entitlement levels, entitlement limits and recent annual extraction estimates are provided for each groundwater system in Table 10. It should be noted that a number of sustainable diversion limit resource units extend beyond the boundary of the subregion. In such cases the baseline diversion limit and sustainable diversion limits values are representative of an area greater than that which falls within the subregion.

The Sediments above the Great Artesian Basin: Warrego-Paroo-Nebine and the Upper Condamine Basalt aquifers have the greatest sustainable diversion limits for the area (99.2 and 79.0 GL/year respectively). These, however, only comprise a small portion of the subregion. The NSW Government (2010) indicates that there is consultation between NSW and Queensland on the management of the Border Rivers Alluvium.

Groundwater extraction from the GAB is largely for stock and domestic use, and has been historically elevated by uncontrolled flow from artesian bores. This issue has been progressively addressed by programs such as the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative, which commenced in 1999. As of July 2012, 256 bores in the NSW Surat Basin had been controlled under the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative and previous programs, with estimated water savings of 50,037 ML/year (Great Artesian Basin Coordinating Committee, 2011). Within the Queensland Surat management zone 44 out of 54 uncontrolled bores have been rehabilitated and over 5000km of bore drains have been replaced by pipes and troughs, under the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative and its predecessors. Estimated water savings are in the order of 24,500 ML, which equates to over 90% of the potential losses prior to implementation of the rehabilitation schemes (C Walton (DNRM), 2014, pers. comm.)

Table 9 Comparison of groundwater extraction limits in water resource plans, water sharing plans and the Commonwealth’s Basin Plan 2012


Groundwater system

Water resource plan

Date commenced

Sub-component of water sharing plan (and long-term average annual extraction limit)

Basin Plan sustainable diversion limit resource unit (and sustainable diversion limit)c

Alluvial aquifers

Water Sharing Plan for the NSW Great Artesian Basin Shallow Groundwater Sources 2011

14 November 2011

GAB Surat Shallow Groundwater Source 143,335 ML/y

NSW GAB Surat Shallow

BDL: 6.57 GL/y

SDL: 15.5 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan

1 February 2005

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

St George Alluvium: Condamine-Balonne

Shallow BDL: 0.77 GL/y

Shallow SDL: 27.7 GL/y

Deep BDL: 12.6 GL/y

Deep SDL: 12.6 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan

1 February 2005

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

St George Alluvium: Warrego-Paroo-Nebined

BDL: 0.21 GL/y

SDL: 24.6 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan

1 February 2005

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Sediments above the GAB: Warrego-Paroo-Nebined

BDL: 1.21 GL/y

SDL: 99.2 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan

1 February 2005

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Sediments above the GAB: Condamine-Balonne

BDL: 0.66 GL/y

SDL: 18.1 GL/yb

Alluvial aquifers

Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan

1 February 2005

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Upper Condamine Alluvium (Central Condamine Alluvium)

BDL: 81.4 GL/y

SDL: 46.0 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan

1 February 2005

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Upper Condamine Alluvium (Tributaries)

BDL: 45.5 GL/y

SDL: 40.5 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Moonie River Water Resource Plan

1 July 2004

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

St George Alluvium: Moonie

BDL: 0.01 GL/y

SDL: 0.69 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Moonie River Water Resource Plan

1 July 2004

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Sediments above the GAB: Moonie

BDL: 0.10 GL/y

SDL: 32.5 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Border Rivers Water Resource Plan

1 July 2004

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Sediments above the GAB: Border Rivers

BDL: 0.04 GL/y

SDL: 14.4 GL/y

Alluvial aquifers

Border Rivers Water Resource Plan

1 July 2004

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Queensland Border Rivers Alluvium

BDL:14.0 GL/y

SDL: 14.0 GL/y

Great Artesian Basin

Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Plan

1 March 2006

Great Artesian Basin

Water Sharing Plan for the NSW Great Artesian Basin Groundwater Sources 2008

1 July 2008

Surat Groundwater Source

75,000 ML/ya

not applicable (not in the Murray–Darling Basin)

Fractured rock aquifers

Condamine-Balonne Water Resource Plan

1 February 2005

The plan does not currently manage groundwater

Upper Condamine Basalts

BDL: 79.0 GL/yb

SDL: 79.0 GL/y

aThese are long-term average annual net recharge estimates. Annual extraction limits are calculated from these figures by subtracting the volume of planned environmental water – refer to the Water Sharing Plan for the NSW Great Artesian Basin Groundwater Sources 2008.bThe Basin Plan sustainable diversion limit resource unit occurs across two water resource plans, but the correlation in the table is shown with the with the largest overlapping areascSDL = sustainable diversion limit; BDL = baseline diversion limit. Where a separate value is not shown for a BDL for a sustainable diversion limit resource unit, BDL=SDLdSDL resource unit extends beyond the subregion boundary

Table 10 Groundwater entitlements and extraction


Groundwater system

Is system confined to the subregionYes/No

Current entitlements

(GL/y)

Recent annual extractiona

(GL/y)

Baseline diversion limitb

(GL/y)

Long-term average sustainable diversion limitc

(GL/y)

Basin Plan sustainable diversion limit resource unit - extent beyond subregion

Yes/No

Sediments above the GAB: Warrego-Paroo-Nebined

No

0.10

1.21

1.21

99.2

Yes

St George Alluvium: Warrego-Paroo-Nebined

No

0

0.12

0.12

24.6

Yes

St George Alluvium: Condamine-Balonne

No

Shallow: 0

Deep: 12.6

Shallow: 0.77

Deep: 12.6

Shallow: 0.77

Deep: 12.6

Shallow: 27.7

Deep: 12.6

Yes

St George Alluvium: Moonie

Yes

0

0.1

0.01

0.69

No

Sediments above the GAB: Condamine-Balonne

Yes

0.7

0.66

0.66

18.1

No

Sediments above the GAB: Moonie

Yes

0.02

0.10

0.10

32.5

No

Sediments above the GAB: Border Rivers

Yes

0

0.04

0.04

14.4

No

Upper Condamine Alluvium (Central Condamine Alluvium)

Yes

86.15

58.6

81.4

46.0

No

Upper Condamine Alluvium (Tributaries)

Yes

42.00

45.5

45.5

40.5

No

Queensland Border Rivers Alluvium

No

21.97

23.42

14.0

14.0

Yes

Upper Condamine Basalts

Yes

61.1

78.9

79

79.0

Yes

NSW GAB Surat Shallow

No

n/a

n/a

6.57

15.5

Yes

Lachlan Fold Belt

No

n/a

n/a

142.4

259.0

Yes

Queensland Water Resource Plan for the Condamine-Balonne

No

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Yes

Queensland Water Resource Plan Moonie River

Yes

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Yes

Water Resource Plan Border Rivers

Yes

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Yes

Source data: MDBA (2012a) and the MDBA (2012) n/a = not applicableaRecent annual extraction includes metered extraction volumes from licensed bores, and estimated extraction from authorised stock and domestic bores reported in MDBA (2012a).bBaseline diversion limits represent the Murray–Darling Basin Authority’s determination of the limits on groundwater use under existing water management arrangements.cLong-term average sustainable diversion limits come into effect in 2019dSDL resource unit extends beyond subregion boundary.

Last updated:
9 January 2019
Thumbnail of the Maranoa-Baloone-Condamine subregion

Product Finalisation date

2014