5663

2008

The Parliament of the

Commonwealth of Australia

THE SENATE

Water Amendment Bill 2008

(Amendment to be moved by the Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown in committee of the whole )

(1)     Schedule 2, page 318 (after line 8), after item 161, insert:

161A  After section 255

Insert:

255A Mitigation of unintended diversions

             (1)  Prior to exploration licences being granted for subsidence mining operations on floodplains that have underlying groundwater systems forming part of the Murray-Darling system inflows, an independent expert study must be undertaken to determine the impacts of the proposed mining operations on the connectivity of groundwater systems, surface water and ground water flows and water quality.

             (2)  Where a substantial risk is identified exploration licences must not be granted.

[impact of mining on groundwater systems]