Water allocation plan

The Water Allocation Plan for the Southern Basins and the Musgrave Prescribed Wells Areas, Eyre Peninsula was endorsed by the State Government on 28 June, 2016.

The Water Allocation Plan (WAP) is a document that sets out the rules of managing the take and use of prescribed groundwater resources.

This WAP manages the extraction of groundwater from wells within two Prescribed Wells Areas (PWAs). Southern Basins PWA is located between Coffin Bay and Port Lincoln on southern Eyre Peninsula, and the Musgrave PWA is located between Lock and Elliston on western Eyre Peninsula. This WAP replaces earlier plans released in 2000.

Download a copy of the Water Allocation Plan for the Southern Basins and the Musgrave Prescribed Wells Areas.

Water Allocation Plan review now open

A 10-year review and amendment of this plan is set to be complete by early 2026. Stage one of consultation for the water allocation plan revision is now open with feedback sought via YourSAy. See our YourSAy page to learn more about the plan and have your say by taking part in surveys. Requests for a meeting to discuss the review and amendment of the plan can also be made via email EPLBAdmin@sa.gov.au.

Written submissions can also be emailed to EPLBAdmin@sa.gov.au or posted to:
EP WAP Revision, Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board, PO Box 2916, Port Lincoln, SA 5606

This consultation is open until Monday, December 16.

Supporting documents

A number of documents related to and supporting the WAP can be found on the supporting WAP documents page. Further to these documents we are also providing a summary of feedback we received from our formal consultation period which can be found here; along with a summary of our 2022 mid-term evaluation.

Groundwater Status Reports

Regular reporting on the status of the region’s prescribed groundwater resources is one of the key functions of the Department for Environment and Water. Below are the two latest Groundwater Status Reports for Musgrave and Southern Basins PWAs.

• Musgrave 2022-23 groundwater status overview (2-page factsheet, published April 2024 on WaterConnect)
• Southern basins 2022-23 groundwater status overview (2-page factsheet, published April 2024 on WaterConnect)
• Musgrave 21-22 groundwater status overview (2-page factsheet, published December 2022 on WaterConnect)
  
• Southern basins 21-22 groundwater status overview (2-page factsheet, published December 2022 on WaterConnect)

Learn about it on WaterConnect

Water is a precious resource and monitoring it is fundamental to how it can be managed. There is a limit to how much is available for use on an ongoing basis, and so it is important to provide certainty to current and future users of water, particularly to those whose livelihoods depend on it. Waterconnect is home to many online documents related to our water resources and management, such as supporting science documents, real-time groundwater data, long-term groundwater data, Groundwater Status Reports and much more. Real-time data can also be found at Water Data SA.

Applying for a permit or licence

See our permits and licences page for details on how to apply for a licence.

News

• Read our announcement about stage one of the Water Allocation Plan review now being open (October 2, 2024)
• We are involved with a $2m research project that was established in 2024 to ensure water security of the Elliston district including gathering scientific information for the amendment and review of the WAP. The project is largely funded by the National Water Grid Authority. See their project page for more details.
• Read our announcement about bringing forward a 10-year review and amendment of the Water Allocation Plan (April 2024)
• The WAP was featured in a paper in the journal Water, published in April 2022 in its special edition "Integrated Water Assessment and Management under Climate Change". The special edition focuses on the assessment of impacts of a changing climate on water resources and information required to support adaptive water management. The paper - The Importance of Legislative Reform to Enable Adaptive Management of Water Resources in a Drying Climate - was written by Simone Stewart and Graham Green from the Department for Environment and Water (DEW).

Keep up-to-date

Find us on Twitter twitter.com/EPLandscapeSA and on Facebook facebook.com/EPLandscapeSA. You can also subscribe to our quarterly newsletter which provides updates on our priorities.