Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges Region

The Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges water resource plan is a management plan for the groundwater and surface waters of the Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges and Marne Saunders Prescribed Water Resources Areas.

The Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges water resource plan area is located at the lower end of the Murray-Darling Basin river system, extending from the Marne River catchment in the north to the Currency Creek catchment in the south.

The Bremer, Angas and Finniss rivers are some of the larger watercourses in the area. The rivers are fed by water from run-off in the hills and then drain across the broad Murray Plains.

The water resources of the area are used for a variety of licensed purposes, including providing for town water supply, intensive animal production, irrigated horticulture, industrial use and mining and quarrying. Non-licensed water use includes domestic use and for watering stock that are not intensively farmed.

The water resources of the area also support a number of ecologically important habitats including the Swamps of the Fleurieu Peninsula, which are listed as a ‘critically endangered’ ecological community under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) that provides habitat for the nationally endangered southern emu wren and southern brown bandicoot.

The Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges water resource plan was accredited by the Australian Government Minister responsible for water in November 2019. All instruments and documents that were accredited as part of the water resource plan can be viewed on the Murray-Darling Basin Authority website.

Note: Since South Australia’s water resource plans were accredited by the Australian Government Minister, parts of several State instruments that were accredited as part of the plans have been amended or replaced. One of the key changes is the Landscape South Australia Act 2019replacing the Natural Resources Management Act 2004. While some of the legislative instruments and other documents referred to in the plans are not current, the plans remain in effect. All instruments and documents accredited as part of the water resource plans can be viewed via the MDBA website.

The South Australian government is working with the MDBA and the Office of the Inspector General of Water Compliance to identify the best approach to updating and reaccrediting the plans. This process will ensure that the updated plans meet local water management needs and Basin Plan requirements.

Read more information on water resource plans across the Murray-Darling Basin.