Environmentalists Upset By Possible Water Cuts In Australia Over State Gas Field Project

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2021) Environmentalists have expressed concerns about a plan to develop a gas field in the Australian state of Queensland that is designed to provide 5,500 new jobs by 2030, calling it a major threat to local water resources, the ABC news broadcaster reported on Thursday.

The Federal government allocated 20.7 million Australian Dollars ($15 million) to gas well trials and 10 million Australian dollars to the feasibility study of the project.

"We're really worried about the enormous declines in the water tables that have occurred elsewhere where gas fields have been developed.

We don't want to see that happen in central Queensland where a lot of farms are dependent on groundwater for their survival," a spokesperson of the local environment protection group told the broadcaster.

Environmentalists believe that the authorities should instead fund renewable energy initiatives as part of the fight against climate change rather than the development of gas fields by big corporations. In addition, Queensland already has 7,000 gas wells in Surat and Bowen basins which produce coal, the environmentalists said.