Economic analysis of landholder water management under Cap & Pipe the Bores program: case studies in the NSW Great Artesian Basin

The NSW Cap & Pipe the Bores Program is a jointly funded Commonwealth and State initiative that operates within the Australian Government’s Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative (GABSI) framework. The third five-year period of GABSI was due to commence on 1st July 2009. This economic study of changes in landholder water management under the Cap & Pipe the Bores program was undertaken to inform the development of GABSI phase 3 policy in NSW. The study consisted of a small number of case studies of farming enterprises across the Great Artesian Basin Groundwater Management Zones of Surat South, Surat East, Surat West, Warrego and Central in NSW. The apparent landholder economic feasibility of the program was dependent on individual farm characteristics as much as location to the bore and geographic location within the GAB