No more water impacts from coal mining

The Glencore Ulan Coal Mine near Mudgee crosses under the Great Dividing Range and takes water from both the Hunter River catchment and the Murray Darling Basin.

This mine already has approval to extract 20 million tonnes of coal per year until 2033. But Glencore wants more! There is a modification before the NSW Planning Minister for an additional 25 million tonnes of coal to be extracted until 2035.

The Ulan Coal Mine estimated groundwater take from this sensitive landscape, in the headwaters of two significant river systems was 7,400 million litres in 2022. It is predicted to rise ...

The Glencore Ulan Coal Mine near Mudgee crosses under the Great Dividing Range and takes water from both the Hunter River catchment and the Murray Darling Basin.

This mine already has approval to extract 20 million tonnes of coal per year until 2033. But Glencore wants more! There is a modification before the NSW Planning Minister for an additional 25 million tonnes of coal to be extracted until 2035.

The Ulan Coal Mine estimated groundwater take from this sensitive landscape, in the headwaters of two significant river systems was 7,400 million litres in 2022. It is predicted to rise to over 10,500 million litres in 2027 (4,400 Olympic swimming pools).

Groundwater is the key source of baseflows to rivers in this region. Water used and groundwater drawdown by coal mine operations intercepts environmental flows essential to maintain healthy and resilient river ecosystems through droughts as well as our local communities and food production.

Email the NSW Planning and Water Ministers now to stop Ulan Coal Mine expansion

Independent experts have condemned the quality of Glencore water models that have consistently underestimated the cumulative impact of mining on these irreplaceable water sources. Ulan Mine modification 6 will draw even more water from the Murray Darling Basin and they don’t have water licences to cover this impact. The predictions also fail to factor in the impacts of climate change

Water impacts from underground mining will continue for thousands of years into the future, if not forever, because groundwater systems are destroyed through drainage and collapse into the underground void.

Ulan Modification 6 will damage an approximate additional 853 hectares of landscape through subsidence, water, biodiversity, and cultural heritage impacts.

This damage cannot be approved to extract a product that is turbo charging climate change and threatening life on earth as we know it.

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Send an urgent email to the NSW Planning and Water Ministers today. Help stop this fossil fuel madness and protect our precious water supplies and rivers.

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Dear Ministers Scully and Jackson,

Water in NSW is precious and must be protected. The Glencore Ulan Coalmine near Mudgee intercepts large volumes of water from the landscape spanning the Great Dividing Range. This is already impacting water sources in the Murray Darling Basin and the Hunter River catchment.

Ulan Mine already has approval to extract 20 million tonnes of coal per year until 2033. The proposal to extract an additional 25 million tonnes of coal until 2035 cannot be justified. The Ulan mine Mod 6 extension will cause further subsidence and surface disturbance over 853 hectares. There will be more groundwater drawdown and loss of water to alluvial aquifers feeding the headwaters of the Murray Darling Basin.

Modelled predictions of water interception from Ulan Mine have consistently underestimated impacted volumes. The Independent Expert Scientific Committee has limited confidence in the groundwater model used to predict impacts from this mine on surface and groundwater.

None of the predictions have taken climate change into account as we face the next upcoming drought. Our rivers cannot afford more permanent interception of critical baseflows. The inconsistent reporting and modelling and lack of transparency about the full impact of coal mining on our water resources is a significant concern that must be rectified.

Please do not approve the proposed Ulan Mine Mod 6. The long-term environmental and social impacts will far outweigh any short-term benefits from an additional 25 million tonnes of coal.

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