The Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA) for the Beetaloo Sub-basin has been undertaken following the recommendations of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory (the Inquiry). The purpose of the SREBA is to provide the information necessary for appropriate decisions to be made about the development of any onshore shale gas industry in the Beetaloo region, including assessment of water and biodiversity resources, to inform land-use planning,
and the collection of baseline data to provide a reference point for ongoing monitoring.
The SREBA includes baseline studies in six domains:
• Water Quality and Quantity
• Aquatic Ecosystems
• Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Methane and Greenhouse Gas
• Environmental Health
• Social, Cultural and Economic.
The content of these studies was defined in the SREBA Framework and Scopes of Work for each domain, which build on the guidance provided in the Final Report of the Inquiry. The SREBA studies also incorporate information from other studies in the Beetaloo region subsequent to the Inquiry, notably the Australian Government's Geological and Bioregional Assessment (GBA) Program.
This Regional Report provides a summary and synthesis of the SREBA baseline studies, which are described in detail in technical Baseline Reports for each domain. All of the data and information collected and collated for the SREBA are publicly accessible through the SREBA Data Catalogue and web portal.,
Notes
Made available by via Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT),
Table of contents
1. Executive Summary- 2. Background - 3. The Beetaloo SREBA Region - 4. Water Quality and Quantity baseline studies - 5. Aquatic ecosystems baseline studies - 6. Terrestrial ecosystems baseline studies- 7. Methane and greenhouse gases baseline studies - 8. Environmental Health Baseline studies - 9. Social, cultural and economic baseline studies - 10. Syntheseis - key findings and important values - 11. Risks from onshore gas development - 12. Application of SREBA,