Conjunctive water management and Tasmanian water policy
In Tasmania, groundwater and surface water are both managed under the one Act, the Water Management Act 1999, as the definition of water resources under that Act includes groundwater. All licensing, allocation, water use restriction, trading and other water management provisions therefore all apply as equally to groundwater as they do to surface water (although clearly the Act was written in the first instance with surface water in mind). The Water Management Act 1999 requires water to be allocated to the environment (including groundwater dependent ecosystems), allows for licensing and allocation of surface water and groundwater, sets priorities for access to water when demand exceeds supply and provides for the development of water management plans.
Surface water is licensed and actively managed but at this stage there is no licensing system in place for groundwater as the level of the previous use was determined to be low (NLWA 2001). The right to take groundwater without a licence is provided for under Part 5 of the Act, which also establishes the right to take stock and domestic water without a licence.
There are however, provisions in the Act to restrict the use of groundwater and/or surface water if water quality values are, or are likely to be, mutually compromised, if it is likely that aquifer collapse may occur or if damage to water dependent ecosystems is occurring, or is likely to occur. This is similar to South Australia where restrictions can be applied if the use of one source is impacting on the other.
Water management plans are the primary mechanism by which surface water and groundwater will be managed in Tasmania. A water management plan may be prepared for a watercourse (or several joined watercourses or part of a watercourse); or a lake; or a groundwater area; or any combination of these features whether the water resources are joined naturally or artificially. This may include dispersed surface water that normally flows into or replenishes the water resource or water resources in the plan.
Plans are currently being developed for eight different catchments and all are likely to contain provisions for a groundwater licensing system for commercial uses. The water management plans and the licensing system must consider the needs of water dependent ecosystems. A pilot groundwater specific management plan is proposed for development over the next 12 months for a restricted area where resource allocation problems are occurring.
Ideally, surface water and groundwater will be considered together in all plans. However there is a provision in the Act that where the allocation of water resources in a plan area may affect a second linked water resource (linked refers to hydraulically linked), the plan must also consider the needs of ecosystems (and people) in the second linked resource. This provision opens a mechanism by which, for example, surface water-dependent ecosystems can be considered in groundwater management plans, and groundwater-dependent ecosystems can be considered in surface water management plans.
There is currently no groundwater licensing in Tasmania, or indeed any real active management with the exception of a couple of isolated incidents where sharing of the resource by users has been facilitated. However, all surface water management plans have included a provision that states that groundwater licensing for commercial users will be in place within the life of the first plan, i.e. before 2006. It is anticipated a licensing system will be developed by the end of 2004.
The current Act states that any owner or occupier of land may take water from a well situated on that land "for any purpose", without a licence. A proposal to amend that Act from 'for any purpose" to "specific purpose" (stock and domestic use only) will be considered in the next session of Parliament. In the interim, licensing is being introduced in the Water Management Plan (WMP) areas.
All Water Management Plans to date are being developed primarily for surface water resources although there is obviously also some element of groundwater use within those areas. In practical terms, the majority of groundwater management will therefore be through licensing at this stage. The groundwater licensing system will be integrated with the surface water licensing system; the necessary database is already set up.
The next step will be to try and properly integrate more comprehensive groundwater management strategies into water management plans. This issue will be forced with the current development of the Meander and Mersey catchment Water Management Plans where karst covers both catchments. The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries Water and Environment (DPIWE) with Mineral Resources Tasmania (MRT) provide technical assessment of water resources and advice for water protection and management.
Relevant Links
Department of Primary Industries, Water & Environment (Tas)
Mineral Resources Tasmania
Tasmania Water Legislation
References
NGC, 2004. Surface water-groundwater integration and legislative constraints. National Groundwater Committee
NLWRA 2001, Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000, Surface water and groundwater - availability and quality, National Land and Water Resources Audit, Canberra.