14th January 2013 Maules Creek Coal Pty Ltd PO Box 56 BOGGABRI NSW 2382 Attention Mr Daniel Martin,

Environment Manager Dear Daniel Re: Maules Creek Coal Project Water Management Plan As per Project Approval (PA 10_0138) for the above project, Schedule 3 condition 40 requires Maules Creek Coal to consult with Namoi CMA during the preparation of the Water Management Plan. Namoi CMA received the draft Water Management Plan on the 19th December 2012 just prior to the Christmas / New Year holiday break, consequently work on the review did not commence till early January 2013. Namoi CMA is aware of the requirements in condition 40, including the requirements to prepare a Site Water Balance, Surface Water Management Plan, Groundwater Management Plan and a Leard Forest Mining Precinct Water Management Strategy. The following comments are provided in relation to the above sections of the Water Management Plan. Namoi CMA will leave any comments on the Groundwater Management Plan to the NSW Office of Water. Surface Water Management Plan Namoi CMA is satisfied with the baseline data supplied for both water quantity and quality. Namoi CMA is also satisfied with the planned Site Water Management System including the proposed water management infrastructure, erosion and sediment controls, clean and mine water management systems, emplacement and final landform water management proposals. Namoi CMA has concerns over the design of the sediment dams and the potential for off site discharges from these dams. Section 2.3.2 states that the sediment basin settling zone volume is based on a 90th percentile 5-day duration rainfall depths. The 90th percentile referred to in this statement is from the Landcom 2004 Blue book and refers to very wet periods, whereas 90th percentile in the rest of the Water Management Plan is for dry periods, which results in some confusion that needs to be clarified for consistency.

All Correspondence - PO Box 546 GUNNEDAH NSW 2380 Tel: 02 6742 9220 - Fax: 02 6742 4022 - Email: glenn.bailey@cma.nsw.gov.au

Namoi CMA is partially satisfied with the proposed performance criteria. The draft Water Management Plan makes no mention of the targets, triggers and performance indicators for investigating adverse impacts associated with downstream flooding or with loss of riparian vegetation, as per condition 40 (a). Namoi CMA is also satisfied with the proposed monitoring program for the surface water management plan as detailed in section 2.5. Site Water Balance Namoi CMA finds this section confusing and overly complex. Appendix B provides some additional detail and clarification. Namoi CMA agrees with the 4 inflows and 5 outflows as stated in section 3.1 Overview. However, section 3.2 Water Sources and Uses, details 6 water sources. Namoi CMA believes there are really only 3 water sources, rainfall and runoff, Groundwater inflow and Namoi River water licence, that supply significant amounts of water for mine operations. This assertion is supported by Appendix B Water Sources. Section 3.2.1 Rainfall Runoff needs to be clarified as to whether runoff from disturbed areas that is collected in sediment dams is re-used on site or released from the site. Table 2.4 indicates that substantial volumes will be pumped back to other storages while other sections indicate runoff volumes will be released from the site. In regard to section 3.3 Forecast Simulation Results, Namoi CMA believes that this section is useful from an operational perspective to determine the likely volumes contained in the mine water dam and the in pit areas at any time over the initial 5 year period. Namoi CMA understands that due to the number of iterations from the water balance model that it is difficult to produce the results a meaningful manner, however a simple table with inflow and outflow balances along with the net water requirements for median and above / below average conditions would be beneficial in this section. Table 3.2 indicates that the sediment dams (combined) will spill for in median and wet years for between 19 and 40 days with significant volumes of water. The sediment dams are likely to be exposed to high sediment loads in the first 5 years as there is little rehabilitation occurring within this time. Namoi CMA is concerned with the predicted spill days and volumes and the potential high sediment loads within the spilling waters. Namoi CMA believes that the spilling waters will have extremely high sediment loads compared to receiving water even during high flow events. Namoi CMA recommends that the predicted spills days and volumes be reduced through larger and more sediment dams to better protect receiving waters and aquatic ecosystems. Table 1.1 in section 1.1 of the Water Management plan refers to the condition 40 requirements and where those requirements are addressed in the Water Management Plan. Under requirement (a) Site Water Balance there are a number of condition requirements including: that site water balances be prepared for each calendar year. Table 1.1 indicates that this is addressed in section 4. Following reading section 4, I failed to find the yearly site water balances,
All Correspondence - PO Box 546 GUNNEDAH NSW 2380 Tel: 02 6742 9220 - Fax: 02 6742 4022 - Email: glenn.bailey@cma.nsw.gov.au

that a program to validate the surface water model, including monitoring discharge volumes from the site and comparison of monitoring results with modelled predictions be prepared. Table 1.1 indicates that this is addressed in section 4. Following reading section 4, I failed to find the validation program. Leard Forest Mining Precinct Water Management Strategy Following reading the requirements of condition 40 (d) for the above strategy and section 4.2.2 of the Water Management plan, it would appear that the requirements have not been addressed within the Water Management Plan at this time. It is hoped that further work will be done on this strategy in future. Conclusion Namoi CMA believes that the draft Water Management Plan should be improved through providing additional detail especially with regard to the Site Water Balance along with some additional clarification regarding the Surface Water Management plan. Namoi CMA looks forward to receiving a modified Water Management Plan. If you wish to discuss this matter further please do not hesitate to contact Glenn Bailey on 6742 9204. Yours Sincerely

Glenn Bailey, Catchment Coordinator Namoi Catchment Management Authority

All Correspondence - PO Box 546 GUNNEDAH NSW 2380 Tel: 02 6742 9220 - Fax: 02 6742 4022 - Email: glenn.bailey@cma.nsw.gov.au