THE majority of the water taken out of the ground during coal-seam gas mining will be injected back into the earth under the Queensland government's draft policy on coal-seam water management, released yesterday.
Water is one of the most contentious issues with the coal-seam process, as the gas is extracted by pumping out the water, which is unfit for drinking, or other purposes, when it comes to the surface.
Under the draft policy, the first priority is to return the water brought to the surface back to aquifers through direct injection, or through "virtual injection" under which treated water is provided to water users such as farmers in exchange for a reduction in their groundwater entitlements.
The second string of the policy is to treat the water through a reverse osmosis process and then make it available for water use in small towns and farms.
The Australian
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