Bore Approval and Paperwork in Dubbo

The Department says you need a water supply work approval to construct a groundwater bore, including to take groundwater under domestic and stock rights, and that the Department and WaterNSW share responsibility for granting and managing the approvals for these bores. A NSW fact sheet dated August 2016 says the approval must be obtained before any drilling occurs. It also says only an authorised driller can be engaged, that you are responsible for checking the driller's current NSW authority and class, and that the drilling contractor submits the Form-A once the bore is built.

The fee

The approval application has a fee. The only government figure usable here is the 2016 one, so no fee is stated on this page: ask the Department or WaterNSW which of them handles your approval and what the fee is now.

Distances from other things

The water sharing plans set minimum distances between a new bore and other things. The Department's water resource plan says the rules have offset distances from known contamination sites and plumes, and the fractured-rock plan bars a household bore approval within set distances of a listed karst and of a river's high bank. Which distance applies to your site depends on where it is, and the Dubbo, Geurie and Wellington pages say what was read for each.

Around Dubbo, groundwater in the alluvial sources supplies towns including Dubbo, according to a 2012 NSW Government document. That is one reason the approval comes before the drilling, not after it.

Who grants the approval?

The Department says it and WaterNSW share responsibility for granting and managing approvals for basic landholder rights bores. Ask which handles yours.

What is Form A?

The bore completion report. The drilling contractor submits it once the bore is built, and the 2016 fact sheet says you can start operating the bore when it has been submitted.

Is the approval fee stated here?

No. The one government figure usable is from 2016, and the current one is published on a site this page may not cite. Ask the Department or WaterNSW.