NSW Office of Water is persisting with a scheme to allow groundwater users to recharge depleted aquifers and gain credits against water entitlements and fees.
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Office of Water consulted NSW Irrigators and NSW Farmers about plans for a trial in the Western Murray porous rock groundwater source near Wentworth, which has little competition for groundwater.
It remains unclear how irrigators could use the scheme, but miners and gas producers are likely candidates.
This aquifer reinjection boom coincides with a 300 per cent increase in earthquake activity since 2009.
However, the Office of Water stressed a range of techniques could be used to return groundwater, including infiltration where water could flow downward through sub-strata into an aquifer.
Any groundwater return would have to comply with existing regulations and prove neutral or beneficial environmental impacts.
Office of Water said the scheme aimed to benefit all water users.
- A previous version of this story said resources companies could use the scheme to dispose of hard-to-handle wastewater. In fact, environmental regulation would prevent this, but mining and petroleum companies could make use of the scheme to return groundwater liberated during their operations.
