Groundwater investigations community consultation
Status of groundwater projects
Sydney’s water saving efforts and the easing of the drought conditions have allowed the Government to halt construction of groundwater borefields at Kangaloon in the Southern Highlands and Leonay and Wallacia in Western Sydney.
Development will be halted at the point where land acquisitions, planning approval and tender design are complete, to enable reactivation of the project without delay in future drought emergencies.
To achieve this, minor surveying activities will proceed over the next few months and the acquisition of two properties, which is already underway, will be completed. Maintenance of all investigation bores and a monitoring program will be ongoing.
The SCA will also proceed with the installation of one dedicated monitoring bore on SCA land near Mt Butler. This bore will be used to monitor groundwater levels in an area where the community has advocated more monitoring.
Public exhibition of the environmental assessment
While the Government has halted the development of a permanent borefield, it still requires the SCA to continue with seeking planning approval for a permanent borefield. This is to enable reactivation of the project without delay in future drought emergencies.
The development of a permanent borefield is being assessed under Part 3A of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (1979).
The SCA lodged an environmental assessment with the Department of Planning. This assessment seeks approval for the building and operation of a permanent borefield in the Upper Nepean catchment. The assessment also addresses community and environmental concerns and outlines ways to manage the possible impacts that could occur from borefield development.
The Department of Planning exhibited the environmental assessment for the proposed permanent Upper Nepean (Kangaloon) borefield from Wednesday 2 April to Monday 5 May 2008.
Next steps?
The SCA addressed issues raised in the submissions, and prepared a response to the Department of Planning.
The Department of Planning will consider the SCA’s response and prepare a report to the Minister for Planning. The Minister for Planning then determines whether to approve the project, and if approved, decides what the conditions of approval will be.
Will the Australian Government also make a decision about the borefield project?
In July 2007, the former Minister for the Environment and Water Resources decided the groundwater project is a 'controlled action'. This means it needs approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The Department of Planning will submit the following to the Australian Minister:
- a copy of the assessment report
- the state level approval conditions
- any other information available to, or used by the Department of Planning in their decision making process.
The Australian Minister will then make his decision on the matters of national environmental significance.
What happens once the borefield project has been determined?
Once the NSW Minister for Planning and the Australian Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts determine the project, the SCA will write to all community members who made a submission during the groundwater investigation process and the exhibition of the environmental assessment, advising them of the decision. The SCA will also write to all community members within two kilometres of the project. Both Ministers' decisions about the project will appear on their departmental websites (Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts - www.environment.gov.au, and the Department of Planning - www.planning.nsw.gov.au, together with the conditions of approval. The Department of Planning will publish an assessment report on its website.
The SCA will also publish the determination on our website at www.sca.nsw.gov.au
Community reference group
A community reference group for the SCA groundwater investigations in the Upper Nepean was established in mid 2006 and has continued to meet regularly throughout the investigations phase. The SCA has provided scientific and technical information and organised site visits and briefings for the group.
Minutes of the Upper Nepean Community Reference Group can be viewed here.
For further information contact:
Community Relations - Groundwater
The Metropolitan Water Plan Team
Sydney Catchment Authority - 1300 722 468 or (02) 4723 9246
Or email groundwaterinfo@sca.nsw.gov.au
Or visit www.sca.nsw.gov.au
