STOP BHP GUTTING THE GAB!

Please help us to protect the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) and the precious Mound Springs its sustains from BHP Billiton’s rapacious plan for a five-fold increase in the already massive amount of water it takes - free of charge - from the GAB. The Mound Springs have already been adversely effected and in some cases destroyed since the mine began drawing millions of litres of GAB water daily.

The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is a vast and ancient body of water that lies deep under the surface of central Australia. The GAB supports many Mound Springs - unique arid land habitats with rare and delicate micro flora and fauna, many species of which are endemic to a particular Spring. SA’s Mound Springs have great ecological, scientific, anthropological and economic significance.

Because of their unique nature and in recognition of the need to conserve and protect remaining ecological values, the Mound Springs of SA are listed as endangered ecological communities under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. That followed the 2001 recommendation from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, which found that ongoing extraction of artesian water is likely to play a continued role in the decline of the Mound Springs.

BHP’s Roxby Downs GAB Grab

Since GAB water extraction for the Roxby uranium mine began in the 1980s, many Mound Springs have experienced reduced flows or have ceased flowing altogether.

BHP has now applied to the Federal and SA Governments for an additional massive water extraction of 120 million litres of publicly-owned GAB water per day for the next 70 years – at no cost - for the proposed expansion of the Roxby uranium/copper mine. BHP proposes a total extraction of some 150 million litres of this precious water a day, compared to its current extraction of about 33 million litres per day. Roxby is already the largest single-site industrial user of underground water in the Southern Hemisphere and BHP is now proposing to take some one third of all the GAB waters that flow into SA each year.

BHP, which announced an annual profit of $8.5 billion in August, cannot be allowed to grab this water resource free of charge and use it to achieve its plan to make Roxby Downs the world's biggest uranium mine. The Rann Government must reject this plan which threatens the Mound Springs with extinction and send the company back to the drawing board. As The Advertiser said in its 4/11/05 Editorial, it is “essential … to safeguard the artesian basin water supplies”.

Recent planning by the SA Government recognises that "the major threat to maintaining habitat diversity is a reduction in Great Artesian Basin pressure resulting in the extinction of Springs and loss of habitat diversity." Yet the Roxby mine enjoys indefensible legal favours, with the Roxby Indenture Act giving the mine a raft of exemptions from the SA Water Resources Act, the Environment Protection Act and the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

The Mound Springs are of profound cultural significance to the Aboriginal people of the region. The Arabunna people are the traditional custodians of the Lake Eyre South region, where effected Mound Springs are located.

The Great Artesian water grab

Australian Conservation Foundation <www.acfonline.org.au/news.asp?news_id=631>

BHP Billiton has put a proposal to the South Australian and Federal Governments that would see the company extract an additional 120 million litres of publicly-owned artesian water per day, every day, for the next 70 years - at no cost to the mining giant.

That's 60 Olympic swimming pools of water a day, for the lifetime of the mine, for free.

Already the biggest industrial user of underground water in the southern hemisphere, the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine at Roxby Downs takes 33 million litres a day from the Great Artesian Basin.

The additional take would see the company extracting more than 150 million litres a day - around a third of the artesian water that flows into South Australia.

Concerns about environmental impact

ACF is deeply concerned that drawing this much water would damage the Great Artesian Basin, cause a significant reduction in groundwater pressure and cut off the natural flows to the unique and fragile mound springs.

The water extraction is part of BHP Billion's proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam mine.

The company, which announced a record annual profit of $8.5 million in August, plans to double copper production, quadruple uranium output and convert the mine from a network of underground tunnels to a massive open pit, a kilometre deep and three kilometres wide.

The crater would be visible from space.

The expanded mine would produce enough waste rock rubble to cover the CBD of any Australian capital city and enough radioactive waste to cover the MCG to the depth of the goalposts every two-and-a-half days.

The mine is a large consumer of electricity and a major contributor to South Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. A 2003 Senate Inquiry into the regulation of uranium mining reported "a pattern of under performance and non-compliance" in the industry. It concluded that changes were necessary "in order to protect the environment and its inhabitants from serious or irreversible damage".

Yet due to an outdated legal arrangement, the current mining operation does not come under the watch of vital South Australian environment laws. With BHP Billiton able to act outside the laws of South Australia, how can the changes recommended by the Senate inquiry be enforced?

Why the Great Artesian Basin mound springs are important

The Great Artesian Basin covers 1.7 million square kilometres or 22 per cent of the Australian continent. It contains an astonishing volume of water, estimated at about 8.7 billion megalitres.

Much of the water in the Great Artesian Basin's aquifers is naturally pressurised. The pressure forces water to the surface through cracks and other faults in the overlying rocks.

Where this water reaches the surface, salt, silt and clay deposited by the evaporating spring water form mounds, commonly known as mound springs. There are about 600 individual springs, concentrated into 11 main groups across the Great Artesian Basin. The south-western region of the basin - the region closest to Roxby Downs - contains the largest number of active and unique springs.

The mound springs are oases - patches of reliable moisture in an arid landscape. They are home to a host of unique organisms - tiny fish, invertebrates and plants that cannot survive in the drier parts of the outback landscape. They become refuges for native birds and animals during times of drought.

More than 40 species of small freshwater snails are known to occur only in the mound springs of the Great Artesian Basin, with some species found only at a single spring. Several of these snail species are already endangered because the springs where they live are on pastoral land, where they are threatened by trampling stock or unsustainable extraction of groundwater.

The mound springs are also important cultural places for the Arabunna people, the traditional custodians of the area.

If these biological wellsprings are damaged by over-extraction of water, it will wipe out the mound springs' unique flora and fauna and adversely affect birds and animals across the Great Artesian Basin that gravitate to the springs when the going gets tough.

With climate change expected to make droughts more frequent and intense, healthy springs will be more important than ever in coming years.

Take action

BHP Billiton should not be allowed to grab this important public water resource and use it to build company profits.

ACF is working hard to convince the Federal and South Australian governments that the company's proposal is bad for the environment and the community.

Help ACF convince governments to reject this massive planned expansion of the Roxby Downs mine. Write to the South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, calling on him to:

- Protect the Great Artesian Basin and the mound springs from the adverse impacts of over-extraction of water;

- Remove the outdated agreement that gives BHP Billiton exemptions from South Australian environmental protection laws and bring it into the same legal environment as other companies operating in SA; and

- Scale back, rather than expand, the Olympic Dam mine.

Write to:

SA Premier Mike Rann

GPO Box 2343

ADELAIDE SA 5001

Phone 08 8463 3166

Fax 08 8463 3168

Email [email protected]

As ACF President Ian Lowe said at the National Press Club on 19 October, "The Big Australian should be warned that it will not get away with making a big mess in the South Australian outback."

Last updated 25 November 2005

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