Greens leader, Bob Brown, has successfully moved an amendment in the Senate to protect rural groundwater from mining developments.
It comes after he visited concerned landholders on the Liverpool Plains last month.
The amendment paves the way for independent groundwater studies to be carried out in the Murray Darling Basin prior to coal exploration licenses being granted.
Member for New England Tony Windsor moved the same amendment in the House of Representatives but it was defeated.
The amendment will now return to the lower house where it will be debated again.
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