Uncertainty over Shenhua mine's effect on groundwater a 'huge risk'

Exclusive: Expert involved in first assessment of NSW coalmine says government approval before a detailed water management plan is 'backwards'

Uncertainty around the Shenhua Watermark mega-mine's effect on underground water creates "huge risks" and "is always open to creating irreversible impacts", according to a former member of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee (IESC).

Jim McDonald, who served as a IESC member from 2012 to 2014 and was involved in the first assessment of the Watermark mine on the Liverpool Plains, described the government process of providing a water trigger approval before a detailed water plan is submitted as "backwards".