Are there any negative environmental effects of installing boreholes?
Each town has one large diameter bore drilled and test pumped to determine bore yields and aquifer characteristics. None of the bores have produced artesian flows. Due to the low volumes produced during test pumping, even salty water discharged from the test pumping will have a negligible impact on the environment. The Commissioner of Soil and Land Conservation was notified of the intention to test pump water in each town and that disposal was mostly discharged into the town drainage system for a limited duration. Longer term pumping is to a constructed evaporation pond or in some cases, to a degraded salt lake. This bore may at a later date be used as a production bore to lower watertables under the town. If the test bore becomes a production bore, the Commissioner will be re-notified and a permanent, environmentally safe solution to the problem of water disposal will be found. Evaporation basins are the safest way to dispose of groundwater.
