Galilee Basin mine plans understated water impact, government report says

Coalmines planned in the Galilee Basin – including Adani’s Carmichael mine – understated the likely impacts on surrounding water resources, a federal government scientific report has found.
The report modelled information from seven of 17 proposed coalmines in the Galilee and found there was a greater than 95% chance that they would cause hydrological changes to the Belyando river basin.
Conservation groups say the report shows that Adani’s Carmichael plan and other mines have been approved and supported based on inadequate environmental information.
The development of coalmines could potentially have water impacts across an area of up to 14,030 square km and 6,285km of streams.
“Of the 241 ecological assets potentially impacted due to modelled additional coal resource development, 148 are considered ‘more at risk of hydrological changes’,” the report said.
“These include potential habitat of 12 threatened species and two threatened ecological communities.” There are 17 proposals for coalmines and coal seam gas projects in the Galilee but researchers could only model the cumulative impacts of seven that were furthest advanced in the environmental planning process.
Adani announced last month it would proceed with a slimmed-down version of Carmichael.
Supporters, including the Queensland Resources Council and the federal resources minister, Matt Canavan, have said the announcement paves the way for the further development of the Galilee.
“Adani’s hypocrisy is breathtaking – they want to get a royalty deferment on the grounds they are opening up the Galilee Basin to mining but don’t want to consider the extreme cumulative water impacts of the other coalmines that may follow if they do,” Flint said.
Adani said in a statement the Carmichael project had been “subject to a wide range of independent assessments, technical studies, public consultations and reviews over eight years” “In response to assessment of the environmental and socioeconomic impact of the mine, the Australian and Queensland governments endorsed an environmental impact statement and set out the conditions under which the project must be operated.