Send the letter to Environment Minister Sussan Ley | Stop Adani

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To Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley,

I am writing to urge you to apply the ‘water trigger’ provision in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC act) to Adani’s proposed North Galilee Water Scheme (NGWS) on the grounds that it is a controlled action requiring approval.

We also request that you require Adani to complete a full environmental impact assessment that considers the impact of its water pipeline on Queensland’s river systems and wetlands, including the Scartwater Lagoon.

Section 24D of the EPBC Act – commonly known as the ‘water trigger’ – is a controlling provision for this project because it involves a ‘large coal mining development’ and will cause ‘a significant impact on water resource’. For the NGWS, the federal court has clarified and confirmed these matters as fact.

You would be aware that the Federal Court recently ruled that the federal government made an error of law when not applying the water trigger to the previous assessment of Adani’s North Galilee Water Scheme. The Federal Government and Adani had argued the water trigger assessment was not needed because the NGWS pipeline was not itself a coal mining development. The Federal Court determined that reasoning was an error and the water trigger should apply.

Australia’s ecologically sensitive, dry inland environments, and the farmers and other water users that rely on them, are dependent on water obtained during high rainfall events to replenish. Adani’s application states the NGWS will not have a significant impact on water resources, despite enabling the company to take up to 12.5 billion litres of water per year. Adani has been shown to consistently underestimate the environmental impacts of its mining operations and its statements should not be accepted at face-value.

Adani’s application notes the potential for the NGWS to be used by other coal mines in the Galilee Basin, but does not specify the likely volume of water take nor provide any other information. The NGWS could enable multiple mines to take many billions of litres of scarce water to wash coal - leaving behind a toxic legacy. Adani must be required to specify the full scale of the NGWS and then to complete an environmental impact assessment that considers all of the adverse impacts of the likely peak water extraction on the Suttor River.

Further, the impact of surface water extraction on recharge to interconnected groundwater aquifers should also be assessed given the proximity of the project to Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in the Belyando catchment. Adani should not be permitted to carve up the project, referring it in a piecemeal way to avoid assessment of the full scale of the project.

Adani’s application notes the NGWS will impact on threatened species including the Ornamental Snake, Squatter Pigeon, Black-Throated Finch, Koala and Waxy Cabbage Palm but states the impacts are “unlikely to be significant”. The Minister must require detailed population and habitat surveys to be completed by Adani and considered in a full environmental impact assessment.

Adani’s application states that the proposed action will have no impact on the Great Barrier Reef. However, the Suttor River feeds the Burdekin River. The Burdekin sub-catchment is a Great Barrier Reef catchment. Recent research has identified that the Burdekin River is one of just four rivers that are most likely to affect water quality on the Great Barrier Reef. Given the sensitivity of the Great Barrier Reef to changes in water quality, the proposed action must be assessed via a full environmental impact assessment to identify and minimise downstream impacts.

Adani’s NGWS will have significant impacts on water resources and ecological systems in Queensland. Furthermore, it is the Department of Environment’s own assessment that the water scheme will have a significant impact on listed threatened species and communities. 
I urge you to follow the advice of the Federal Court and apply the water trigger to the assessment of the NGWS so the impacts on Queensland’s water are understood and properly assessed.

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