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Winter threatens salty water stocks

ABC Rural
Clint Whitaker

Mundubbera cattle producer Clint Whitaker with one of his bores.

Eliza Rogers

Salinity levels in some bores across Queensland could be a problem this winter as producers focus on bore water after a dry summer.

Surface water is already in short supply, making bores a more secure and popular option.

But the extra extraction could raise salinity in shallower bores.

As more and more water is sucked up through the soil, it picks up salt, which can harm livestock, as Mundubbera grazier Clint Whitaker explains.

"The bore water appears to be way healthier... the concern is, if the mineral content's too high, we have adverse health effects."

Further north, it's a different story.

Winton district grazier Errol Entriken says most people in the region now tap into secure supplies from the deep Artesian Basin, which has a more consistent mineral content.

He says the water reserves are high, reaching depths of 1,000 metres in his area, lasting about 5,000 years.

But empty dams and the dry season mean the cost of pumping water will rise.

"The Artesian water is good, it doesn't change much, the only thing there is, the more you rely on it, a lot of people pump, so it's higher cost, of course."

However, he says that's offset somewhat in the winter months when cattle don't drink as much.

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