Understanding the Southern Basins Prescribed Wells Area
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Department for Water Resources UNDERSTANDING THE SOUTHERN BASINS PRESCRIBED WELLS AREA Draft Document January 2001 Government of South Australia This Document has been compiled by the Department for Water Resources in consultation with the Eyre Region Water Resources Planning Committee ii CONTENTS Part 1: GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SOUTHERN BASINS PRESCRIBED WELLS AREA .................................................................... 1 1.1 PHYSICAL SETTING .......................................................................................................1 1.2 VEGETATION ................................................................................................................4 1.3 WATER RESOURCES .....................................................................................................4 1.4 RECHARGE TO THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED WELLS AREA ................................................................................................................9 1.5 ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF WATER FOR ECOSYSTEMS DEPENDENT ON UNDERGROUND WATER ........................................................................................10 1.6 ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLIES .................................................................................12 Part 2: HISTORY OF WATER MANAGEMENT OF THE SOUTHERN BASINS PWA............................................................................................... 18 2.1 DEVELOPMENT AND PRESCRIPTION OF THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCE .........18 2.2 UNDERGROUND WATER WITHDRAWAL ......................................................................18 2.3 UNDERGROUND WATER LEVEL AND QUALITY TRENDS ..............................................21 2.4 METHOD OF ALLOCATION ..........................................................................................21 2.5 STOCK AND DOMESTIC USE ........................................................................................24 Part 3: OUTCOMES OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION ........................................ 25 3.1 CONVERSION TO VOLUMETRIC ALLOCATIONS ............................................................26 Part 4: EXPLANATORY NOTES FOR WATER ALLOCATION POLICY.... 28 4.1 BASIS OF ALLOCATION ...............................................................................................28 4.2 WATER AVAILABLE FOR ALLOCATION .......................................................................29 4.3 CRITERIA FOR ALLOCATION .......................................................................................29 4.4 BASIS OF RECHARGED WATER ALLOCATION ..............................................................31 4.5 CRITERIA FOR RECHARGED WATER ALLOCATION ......................................................31 4.6 TRANSFER CRITERIA ..................................................................................................31 4.7 DRILLING , PLUGGING , BACKFILLING OR SEALING OF A WELL .....................................32 Part 5: ADMINISTRATION OF LICENCES AND PERMITS .......................... 33 5.1 REQUIREMENTS FOR A WATER LICENCE .....................................................................33 5.2 SPECIFICATIONS FOR WATER LICENCES ......................................................................33 5.3 WELL PERMITS ...........................................................................................................34 5.4: TRANSFERS ................................................................................................................34 5.5 PROCEDURE FOR PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF CERTAIN TRANSFERS ...............................35 5.6 REDUCTION OF WATER ALLOCATIONS ........................................................................36 Part 6: APPEALS ..................................................................................................... 37 Part 7: PENALTIES................................................................................................. 38 7.1 BREACH OF LICENCE ..................................................................................................38 7.2 EXCESS CHARGES .......................................................................................................38 Part 8: EDUCATION AND AWARENESS ........................................................... 39 Part 9: REVIEW OF THE WATER ALLOCATION PLAN............................... 40 Part 10: WATER PROTECTION AREAS AND ZONES...................................... 41 10.1 WATER QUALITY IN WATER PROTECTION AREAS .......................................................41 10.2 LAND USE CONTROL IN WATER PROTECTION ZONES ..................................................41 iii Part 11: EXTRACTION AND DELIVERY PLANS, AND ANNUAL REPORTS ........................................................................................................................ 43 11.1 EXTRACTION AND DELIVERY PLAN ............................................................................43 11.2 ANNUAL REPORTS ......................................................................................................44 Part 12: MEASURING WATER USE...................................................................... 45 Part 13: REFERENCES............................................................................................. 46 Part 14: GLOSSARY.................................................................................................. 48 FIGURES Figure 1. LOCATION OF THE SOUTHERN BASINS PWA......................................................2 Figure 2. SCHEMATIC CROSS SECTION OF THE KEY HYDROGEOLOGICAL UNITS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS .......................................................................................3 Figure 3. VEGETATION DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE SOUTHERN BASINS PWA..................5 Figure 4. GENERALISED UNDERGROUND WATER FLOW DIRECTIONS ...............................7 Figure 5. SUMMARY OF ULEY SOUTH HYDROGEOLOGIC TIME SERIES DATA ..................13 Figure 6. SUMMARY OF ULEY WANILLA HYDROGEOLOGIC TIME SERIES DATA .............14 Figure 7. SUMMARY OF ULEY EAST HYDROGEOLOGIC TIME SERIES DATA ....................15 Figure 8. SUMMARY OF COFFIN BAY BASIN HYDROGEOLOGIC TIME SERIES DATA ........16 Figure 9. SUMMARY OF LINCOLN BASIN HYDROGEOLOGIC TIME SERIES DATA .............17 Figure 10. ANNUAL VOLUME OF UNDERGROUND WATER EXTRACTION FROM THE SOUTHERN BASINS PWA FOR RETICULATED PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY ............19 Figure 11. UNDERGROUND WATER MONITORING NETWORK ............................................20 Figure 12. LOCATION OF THE SOUTHERN BASINS WATER PROTECTION AREA ..................42 TABLES Table 1. Assessment of the Capacity and Demands for the Southern Basins Prescribed Wells Area.....................................................................................22 iv Part 1: GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SOUTHERN BASINS PRESCRIBED WELLS AREA 1.1 Physical Setting The Southern Basins Prescribed Wells Area (PWA) is located south-west of Port Lincoln on Eyre Peninsula. It covers an area of approximately 870 km 2 and comprises all or parts of the Hundreds of Lincoln, Wanilla, Lake Wangary, Uley, Sleaford and Flinders. The boundaries of the area are presented on Figure 1. In general water resources are limited in occurrence throughout Eyre Peninsula. In the Southern Basins there is very little available surface water with one permanent and two ephemeral saline lakes and two brackish lakes that feed ephemeral watercourses. However, there are moderately good supplies of underground water. These underground water resources provide a large part of the reticulated water supply for Eyre Peninsula. The area is generally characterised by undulating topographic relief typical of an ancient dunal system with dramatic coastal cliffs and large internal drainage catchments. Ground level elevations range from 140 m coastal cliffs to inland depressions reaching near sea level to bedrock highs exceeding 200 m. The area incorporates the Kellidie Bay and Sleaford Mere Conservation Parks and parts of the Lincoln and Coffin Bay National Parks, which are managed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1972 . Pursuant to this Act, management plans have been prepared for the Lincoln and Coffin Bay National Parks and Kellidie Bay Conservation Park (NPWS 1989). The underground water resources of the Southern Basins PWA are contained primarily within the Quaternary Bridgewater Formation limestone and the Tertiary Sand aquifers of the Lincoln, Uley and Coffin Bay Basins. Minor underground water resources are found within the fractured Basement rocks. The major resources are within the Quaternary limestone, in separate geologically controlled structures and include the Coffin Bay A, B and C; Wanilla; Uley Wanilla, Uley East and Uley South; and Lincoln A, B, C, D and D West Lenses. A schematic cross section identifying the key hydrogeological units of the Southern Basins PWA is provided is Figure 2. The water and waterworks reserves are managed by SA Water and are utilised for reticulated public water supply borefields. Underground water from the Southern Basins PWA provides the majority of Eyre Peninsula’s reticulated public water supply needs. The thin soils over the limestone promote rapid infiltration of rainfall that favours relatively high recharge rates in selective areas. Increased understanding of the natural processes operating within these underground water resources suggests that the primary source of recharge water to these aquifers is from infiltration of rainfall