Consideration of the suitability of receptors against appropriate criteria provides a basis for inclusion of receptors within the receptor register. To be useful as receptors, there needs to be the capacity to demonstrate a causal pathway from the identified hazards to the receptor. This causal pathway should be documented in the conceptual model as hypothesised statements with, where available, supporting evidence (see M05 (as listed in Table 1) for developing a conceptual model of causal pathways (Henderson et al., 2016) for details). The Assessment team must not only rely on their own evaluation of these criteria but include consultation with domain expertise or those with local knowledge. Input should be obtained via a number of mechanisms including one-to-one conversations, at least one workshop and external review and potentially through the use of online survey tools. Criteria against which receptors may be evaluated include:
ability to model the change in the hydrological response variables associated with the receptor in response to coal resource development
ability to represent the phenomenon of interest (e.g. an asset–impact relationship)
availability of data to establish a baseline prior to coal resource development (i.e. establish existing trends)
tractability for measuring, modelling and monitoring
ability to quantify the uncertainty in measuring the receptor
suitability of the receptor to indicate the condition and predicted impact on multiple assets.
