A major Liquefied Natural Gas deal between Australia and China has environmentalists scared for the future of the Great Artesian Basin.
Australia will supply China with another 4.3 million tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas each year for 20 years.
The coal seam gas project involves the extraction of CSG from coal seams in the Surat and Bowen basins in southern and central Queensland.
Friends of the Earth spokesman Drew Hutton says this is bad news for the environment, the Great Artesian Basin and for landowners.
"The federal government water group and Geoscience Australia believe there are going to be dramatic draw-downs (of the water table) in sections of the Great Artesian Basin and the damage could last for hundreds of years," Mr Hutton told AAP.
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The basin is a major source of water for farmers and communities in inland Queensland.
Mr Hutton said CSG companies don't know what to do with the unwanted water.
"They don't know how to treat it to an acceptable level at an acceptable cost," he said.
"They don't know what to do with the one million tonnes of salt a year that comes to the surface except to wack it into landfill.
"Is it worth disrupting and sometimes destroying the farms that provide our food and fibre?
"The cost of this industry is far too great."
According to Australia Pacific LNG, at its peak this project will create about 6,000 direct jobs in construction, and about 1000 direct jobs in the operational phase of the project.
