Golden Guitar winner Luke O'Shea has been arrested after locking himself to a water pump this morning in a bid to disrupt work at Whitehaven Coal's controversial Maules Creek mine.

The country music superstar, who scooped three Golden Guitar awards including Male Artist of the Year in Tamworth on Saturday, was joined by his 71-year-old father, Rick.

Whitehaven Coal uses the large pump to draw water from the Namoi River to wash the coal extracted from its $767 million mine, which entered production late last year.

Police were called to the scene and Mr O'Shea was arrested 9.50am after almost three hours locked on to the pump.

He has been taken to Narrabri Police Station and no charges have been laid at this stage.

Mr O'Shea said he had a deep personal connection to the area as his father was born and raised on a property on the banks of the Namoi River.

"Knowing that a mining company was sucking water out of the Namoi River near where I grew up was very painful for me," he said.

"Fresh and abundant water is the lifeblood of country Australia and I couldn't sit by and do nothing while it was being wasted on washing coal.

"Australian country musicians have a strong tradition of standing up for people in the bush and singing the songs that highlight the strength and mateship found during hardship, be it through war, natural disasters or taking on large multinational mining companies."