Water allocation plan
The Water Allocation Plan (WAP) is a document that sets out the rules of managing the take and use of prescribed groundwater resources.
A review and amendment of the 2016 plan was completed by early 2026 including two rounds of public consultation in 2025. The amended Water Allocation Plan for the Southern Basins and the Musgrave Prescribed Wells Areas, Eyre Peninsula (2026) is now finalised. The amended plan will come into effect in July 2026.
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.
Supporting documents
A number of documents related to and supporting the WAP can be found on the supporting WAP documents page.
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 opening (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).
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