Regulating mine water releases using water quality trading

Management of saline water release from coal mines in the Fitzroy Basin Queensland, Australia, is challenged by extreme climate variability and by the ephemeral nature of the receiving river systems. In the past decade, extended periods of drought and the floods of 2007/08 and 2010/11 have tested both strategic and operational mine water management practices, infrastructure and regulation of mine water release. Mine water release is currently regulated by the Fitzroy Model Conditions, a licence-based system which allows for increasing release rates with increasing flow in the receiving waters. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the technical feasibility of implementing a market-based cap-and-trade mechanism for managing saline mine water release into rivers of the Fitzroy basin.