Closing Down an Old Bore in Griffith

An old bore is not simply left. The NSW Department says it must be decommissioned in accordance with the Minimum Construction Requirements for Water Bores in Australia, and that you should tell it by email once it is, if you want to surrender the approval.

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What closing down an old bore in Griffith actually involves

The Department's own page says the bore must be decommissioned in accordance with the national minimum requirements, and to advise the department by email that the bore is decommissioned and that you want to surrender the approval. Its stated reason, on a page about decommissioning, is to ensure bores no longer being used are safe and contaminated water cannot enter the bore.

Why it is a job, not a tidy-up

The reason is the Department's own: the bore has to be safe, and contaminated water must not be able to enter it. That is why closing a bore has steps of its own.

A rusted old bore casing, capped, in a bare paddock — closing down an old bore, Griffith. Illustrative example.

Who does it

This site has not read who may carry out decommissioning in NSW, so it does not say. Ask the provider who will do it and what the quote covers, and ask the Department whether a bore that was never approved needs anything different.

Where a bore stands in flood-prone ground, such as the Yenda page describes, the national document that the Department's decommissioning rule points to also speaks to how a casing is finished at the surface. That is its construction standard, not a decommissioning rule.

Irrigated orchard rows at dusk with a low channel bank in the foreground — water bore drilling, Griffith. Illustrative example.

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