Barossa Water Allocation Plan
The Water Allocation Plan (WAP) for the Barossa Prescribed Water Resources Area (PWRA) was adopted in 2009.
The WAP aims to:
- protect the resource for all water users and water dependent ecosystems, now and into the future
- provide greater certainty for water users.
The 2009 WAP was developed by the former Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board. Since 2020, the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board has continued the process of updating and amending it, with public consultation of the draft amended WAP now underway. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated on the process.
Amendment process
An amendment of the Barossa WAP has been undertaken using updated science and monitoring information for the surface water and groundwater resources of the Barossa Prescribed Water Resources Area. Modelling and climate forecasting has provided information about the current and future availability of water, and the impacts of different levels of extraction for a range of climate scenarios.
As part of this process, workshops, forums and surveys during 2022 and 2023 presented the science and monitoring data and provided an opportunity for discussions about management options. Targeted engagement with the Ngadjuri, Peramangk and Kaurna First Nations people occurred to incorporate Aboriginal water interests for the first time.
View the presentations:
- Overview of the ecology of the aquatic ecosystems of Barossa PWRA by Doug Green, Senior Ecologist, DEW Science, Evaluation and Reporting Team
- Barossa PWRA: Groundwater processes & status of the resources by DEW's Steve Barnett, Principal Hydrogeologist Darren Alcoe, Manager Groundwater Assessments and Reporting
- Barossa WAP Review - Science Investigations: Changing(ed?) climate and implications to water planning in the Barossa PWRA by DEW Water Science & Monitoring Team, Kumar Savadamuthu, Principal Hydrologist Kumar Savadamuthu, Principal Hydrologist and Daniel McCullough, Senior Hydrologist
- Unbundling water licenses by Jennifer Munro, Planning Officer, Northern and Yorke Landscape Board
Other Barossa water projects underway
The amended Plan is being developed in the context of the broader Barossa Water Security Strategy (Department for Environment and Water - Barossa Water Security Strategy) and related water projects.
The Barossa Water Security Strategy includes actions to achieve a water secure future, such as increasing the volume of imported water available to the region, demand management measures, modification of dams to increase flows through catchments, and other complementary actions.
Investigations are currently underway around bringing additional volumes of imported water into Barossa via the Barossa New Water Project, either from the Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant, or via the River Murray through the Mannum-Adelaide pipeline. Additional water could help take pressure off the local water resources.