Great Artesian Basin water resource planning
- Current status of planning activities
- Water resource plan
- Resource operations plan
- Water licence relocation reports
- Public notices
- Maps of the Great Artesian Basin
- Historical documents
- Contact details
Current status of planning activities
| Water resource plan (WRP) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Intention to prepare draft WRP announced | Draft WRP released | Final WRP approved |
| 05-04-05 | 26-08-05 | 31-03-06 |
| Resource operations plan (ROP) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Intention to prepare draft ROP announced | Draft ROP released | Final ROP approved |
| 26-08-05 | 22-07-06 | 23-02-07 |
Water resource plan
On 31 March 2006 the Minister released the Water Resource (Great Artesian Basin) Plan 2006 (listed under the Water Act 2000).
Resource operations plan
The Great Artesian Basin Resource Operations Plan was finalised on 14 December 2006 and commenced by public notice on 23 February 2007 after a consultation and review process. Explanatory notes (PDF, 665K)* accompany the ROP.
The Spring Register
The GAB ROP created a spring register listing the GAB springs that support significant cultural and environmental values. The GAB ROP protects the flow of groundwater to these springs against the threat of new water entitlements.
The spring register contains information about spring locations, the spring type, the management units that are connected or supplying water to the springs, decisions made about water licences that could impact the flow of water to the springs, and the cumulative spring factor for each spring.
Spring factors are estimates of the change in pressure at a spring resulting from a water licence decision, as established under the GAB ROP. They are determined for new water licences granted from the unallocated water reserves (identified in the GAB Water Resource Plan), and for water licence relocations, amendments, surrenders, and cancellations; and added to the pre-existing cumulative spring factors (CSF) for each relevant spring in the register.
On commencement of the GAB ROP, all CSFs were zero. The reason for calculating cumulative spring factors is to monitor the cumulative impact of water licence decisions on spring flows over time. The GAB ROP establishes that no CSF can exceed 400 (equivalent to a pressure reduction of 0.4 metres head of water), thus limiting any cumulative impact of water licence decisions on springs.
The following tables contain a recent extract from the spring register and are provided for information purposes only. The information is current only for the date it was extracted.
- Table 1: Vent springs listed in the Great Artesian Basin Resource Operations Plan spring register as of 25/8/2009 (PDF, 96K)*
- Table 2: Watercourse springs listed in the Great Artesian Basin Resource Operations Plan spring register as of 25/8/2009 (PDF, 40K)*
- Table 3a: GAB management unit sets are connected to each spring in the GAB ROP spring register (PDF, 41K)*
- Table 3b: GAB management units contained within the management unit sets referred to in Table 3a (PDF, 27K)*
- Table 4: Water Licence Decisions with potential to impact the GAB ROP spring register cumulative spring factors (PDF, 17K)*
- Table 5: Springs removed from the GAB spring register since commencement of the GAB ROP in 2007 (PDF, 17K)*
Water licence relocation reports
Water licensees in the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) are able to relocate water by transferring, amending or amalgamating all or part of their water licences.
The relocation of a water licence enables a licensee to transfer ownership of the entitlement, permanently trading the water licence from the land to which it is attached, to another parcel(s) of land.
This process differs from the more common form of water trading, whereby water allocations are traded independently of land titles and have their own registrable title.
The following is a snapshot of the market activity relating to the relocation of water licences.
Financial year report
- 2009–10 Financial year report—Great Artesian Basin (PDF, 35K)*
- 2008–09 Financial year report—Great Artesian Basin (PDF, 36K)*
- 2007–08 Financial year report—Great Artesian Basin (PDF, 36K)*
- 2006–07 Financial year report—Great Artesian Basin (PDF, 31K)*
Business rules (PDF, 77K)* have been developed to help ensure the consistency of the data presented in the water licence relocation reports.
Read more about water trading.
*Note that these prices are indicative only and have been based on information provided to the then Department of Environment and Resource Management. The department is not privy to individual business arrangements which may have been confidentially entered into by the parties to these transactions. Before basing any decisions on this information, you should consider (with or without the assistance of an advisor) whether it is sufficient for your needs, objectives and circumstances. The data in the 2006-07 year was collected from 1 February 2007 when the Great Artesian Basin Resource Operations Plan commenced, giving effect to the relocation of water licences.
Public notices
- Approval of a resource operations plan notice (No 01) 2007 (PDF, 86K)*, 23 February 2007
Maps of the Great Artesian Basin
Historical documents
You are also able to view past reports and historical documents relating to the Great Artesian Basin water resource plan and resource operations plan at the Department of Natural Resources and Mines library catalogue.
Contact details
If you have problems downloading any of these documents, or would like a copy sent by post, please contact:
Department of Natural Resources and Mines
Level 6, 41 George Street
PO Box 2454
Brisbane Qld 4001
Phone: (07) 3225 1284
Fax: (07) 3224 8359
Email: Great Artesian Basin WRP coordinator
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Last updated 19 April 2012