13 Following the cross-examination of Mr Campbell and the subsequent response evidence from Mr Lane, it appears to me that the concerns expressed have been reasonably addressed along the following lines:
* The unrestricted nature of the s96 Modification application has been addressed by the revised conditions, which alter the "trigger" water level from 10m to 15m. In the event of the water reaching this level, further extraction is subject to the requirements of DNR, which is the authority responsible for allocation of water extraction licenses. The approval of the proposed alteration is not unrestricted as first thought by Mr Campbell;
* The increase in water extraction to 66ML remains as already approved by DNR, which is in accordance with the Water Sharing Plan;
* In so far as some criticisms were made about the groundwater modelling, nevertheless Mr Lane acknowledged in his assessment the limitations of the MODFLOW model, which were identified in a critique by E R M Consultants. He says it is routinely used for the designated "purposes by experienced practitioners who can recognise the limitations and use it accordingly. In summary, the critique focuses on the models weaknesses to predict local drawdown, which is conceded, rather than on its representation of impact on resource".
* Furthermore, he acknowledged the more detailed and costly model being prepared by Dr Merreck (whom he consulted) at UTS, but said that he could "draw inferences from the 2004 model in terms of the apparently limited drawdown created by this extraction which is consistent with the view that the extraction would not produce a large stress on resource".
14 With respect to the concerns raised about rainfall and drought conditions Mr Lane maintained his position and stated in his report as follows:
The state of the resource (storage and flow of groundwater in the aquifer) is dependent on variations in the actual amount of recharge experienced from year to year. Figure 4 shows the long-term rainfall records for the region, which shows a highly variable climatic pattern. It follows that recharge will vary significantly from year to year. Taking a series of years from 1982 to present, it can be seen that:
o the 1980s were much wetter than the following years.
o 11 of the last 13 years have been below average rainfall at Peats Ridge.
o there has been a declining trend in rainfall in the years 1998 to present.
15 On this matter he concludes that:
" In summary, there seems to be no compelling evidence that the groundwater resource is overstressed in the vicinity of the PRS site, and that much of the variation in average water level may be due to climatic variation."
Conclusions
16 Having considered the evidence and the submissions, I am firstly satisfied that the s 96 modification application applies to the originally approved development. Secondly, the modification application has been notified and objectors given the opportunity to present their concerns at this Courts hearing. The objections have been considered in terms of the merits assessment of the s96 modification application.