Open-cut coal mines in the Bowen Basin are being encouraged by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources & Mines to design stream diversion monitoring and evaluation programs in accordance with the methodology developed in the ACARP project Monitoring and Evaluation Program for Bowen Basin River Diversions.
The methodology was developed by natural resources group Earth Tech for the Australian Coal Association Research Program.
Already these guidelines, together with vastly improved design and construction methods, have put the Bowen Basin practices at the vanguard of Australia’s mining industry.
“Good design is imperative, but it’s not the total answer. Without a properly structured, continuous monitoring and evaluation process, mines cannot claim to have met the environmental requirements now expected of them,” said Chris Vernon, leader River & Water Management in the Department of Natural Resources & Mine’s Mackay office.
“The onus is on mine operators to demonstrate their diversions will be environmentally sound throughout their life.”
In fact, development of monitoring programs was also likely to become mandatory at the other end of the process as mines applied for a diversion licence.
The Earth Tech maintenance and monitoring system is seen to the best around because it is not simply one-size-fits-all solution. It is a flexible system that effectively addresses environmental conditions peculiar to a particular stream diversion, as well as taking into account other factors such as economic considerations and imperatives.
“Mine operators now recognise that Natural Resources & Mines won’t sign off on their diversion licence unless they can demonstrate that the stream diversion is operating in equilibrium comparable with natural reaches of the diverted watercourse
These days that standard is about the equivalent of a natural waterway, which is very much achievable given the new methods,” said Vernon.
The monitoring and evaluation program developed for Bowen Basin diversions consists of five different packages:
* Baseline monitoring
* Construction monitoring
* Operations monitoring
* Temporary diversion monitoring
* Relinquishment monitoring
