THE NSW Government says it will not pre-empt the findings of an expert panel, despite mounting calls for a halt to coalmining operations that have damaged a river system south of Sydney.

The Mineral Resources Minister, Ian Macdonald, yesterday said the independent inquiry into southern coalfield mining had received submissions covering the issue of riverbed fractures, blamed for bleeding sections of the Waratah Rivulet dry.

The rivulet feeds into Sydney's Woronora Reservoir, and pictures published in the Herald yesterday showed riverbed fissures and large sections of cracked and exposed river rock.

"The Government is conscious of community concern regarding the mining operations in the southern coalfield," Mr Macdonald said.

"That's why we established an independent expert panel to complete an inquiry into underground coalmining in the area.

"We won't pre-empt the results of the inquiry."

The Southern Coalfield Independent Expert Panel, which received more than 50 submissions, is not due to release its findings until early next year. Some mining companies have reportedly admitted their operations, which occur 500 metres underground, have caused some sections of the rivers to bleed dry.

But they say the water is not lost to the catchment because it re-emerges downstream. This view is backed by the NSW Minerals Council.

Environmental groups disagree, and the Greens said yesterday there was no justification for allowing the mining to continue. "In this era of climate change, the NSW Government should put protection of water catchments before coalmining," said the Greens upper house MP Lee Rhiannon. The Government should "call a halt to coalmining that is damaging the Sydney and Wollongong water catchments".

Ms Rhiannon said the damage was occurring during a time of drought, when the State Government was also investing heavily in desalination infrastructure to produce more drinking water.

"The longwall coalmining machines that are causing the massive subsidence are highly automated and have caused massive job losses in the coal industry," she said.

AAP