The South Burdekin Water Board & Area
Every major river system has an aquifer of some kind; the Burdekin River has one of the largest coastal aquifers within Australia. The Burdekin Delta has managed its resource wisely through replenishment activities provided exclusively by the two Burdekin Delta Water Boards. The South Burdekin Water Board was constituted in 1966 with a charter to artificially replenish the Burdekin delta groundwater resource within its respective water area. At the time, the concept of recharge on the scale envisaged was unique in Australia as was the self-funding and local management aspects of the proposal. Today the Board remains an autonomous statutory groundwater resource management authority, responsible for the economic and environmentally sustainable management of the groundwater resource within its proclaimed water area. The Board operates on a user-pays cost recovery basis spending $1 million dollars annually to replenish and manage the aquifer. The sugar industry continues to be the predominant agricultural crop grown within the Burdekin Delta, with principal revenue derived from the sugar industry by way of assessable area charges, a firm partnership between the growers and millers of sugar cane now exists, such that the Miller contributes finance equivalent to one-third of each growers annual assessable area charge, there are no concessions for those farmers who grow other crops. The success of the Board's operations over the past 40 years can be attributed to the mechanisms that the Board employs to ensure the sustainability of the aquifer. These mechanisms include:
For the last forty years the South Burdekin Water Board has managed the aquifer in terms of quantity and quality. The history behind the Board, demonstrates how a well managed natural aquifer can provide sustainable water supplies for domestic, stock and agricultural purposes, and through good management and past experiences, ensure this natural resource will continue to |