Baroota Water Allocation Plan
The Baroota Prescribed Water Resources Area (PWRA) was prescribed on 19 June 2008. (View map) The Water Allocation Plan (WAP) for the Baroota PWRA is currently being developed, a process that involves community consultation. It will be the first WAP for water management in this area.
The Northern and Yorke Landscape Board is the regulatory body responsible for implementing the WAP during its 10-year lifespan.
- Find out more information about what a WAP is and why they are important
The Baroota WAP will:
- Ensure that water resources are managed within acceptable resource condition limits
- Maximise security of access to prescribed water resources for current and future users within the constraints of the resource
- Maintain the current water-dependent ecosystems and their functionality at an acceptable level of risk
- Provide for the flexible and variable use of surface water in response to seasonal climate variability and availability
- Recognise and incorporate First Nation water interests.
Progress update: Baroota WAP development
To develop the Baroota WAP, science and monitoring data has been collated. This informs the understanding of current and future water availability, the impacts of different levels of extraction, and the effects on local water resources and ecosystems.
To ensure the sustainability of water-based activities into the future, resource extraction limits have been developed for each of the water resources. This is the amount of water that can be taken over a sustained period with minimal risk to the surrounding ecosystem. This excludes water taken for unlicensed purposes such as stock and domestic uses.
Between 2021 and 2023, the Board, a community-based Water Allocation Planning Advisory Group and the Department for Environment and Water (DEW) have discussed appropriate policy settings for the inaugural draft Plan.
Nukunu First Nation members have also identified cultural objectives for Country that includes the Baroota area. These objectives have been acknowledged in the draft Plan and the Board will continue to collaborate with Nukunu people as part of a holistic approach to landscape management.
The draft Plan is currently on track for completion in 2024 with the statutory consultation period planned to begin mid-year. This consultation process will extend for at least 2 months.
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Read presentations from the public forum held on 23 September 2021:
- Water planning in the Northern and Yorke region, by Jennifer Munro, Planning Officer, Northern and Yorke Landscape Board
- Status of the groundwater resources at Baroota by Steve Barnett, Principal Hydrogeologist, DEW
- Water dependent ecosystems of the Baroota catchment by Douglas Green, Senior Ecologist, DEW
- The first Water Licenses for Baroota by Sophie Telfer, Project Officer-Water Licensing, DEW
- Overview of the process for Water Allocation Plan development by Daniela Conesa, Senior Project Officer, DEW
Other water projects underway at Baroota
The Northern and Yorke Landscape Board has received funding from the South Australian Government’s Landscape Priorities Fund for the Environmental and Cultural Flows project in 2023-2025 that includes Baroota. One of the project’s key objectives is to continue to collaborate with SA Water to deliver environmental water releases from the Baroota Reservoir.
The water releases from Baroota Reservoir are the key mechanism for delivering the environmental water provisions in the draft Plan.
The project also includes monitoring activities for surface water flows, the groundwater system, and the river red gums along the Baroota Creek. The data from these activities will contribute to the monitoring, evaluation and review process implemented for the draft Plan.