Where’s the water going to come from?
Abstract
Environmental flows for the Onkaparinga River and estuary
The Onkaparinga River catchment is one of the principal water supply sources for metropolitan Adelaide. It also hosts 47 different types of land uses including irrigated horticulture, grazing, and rural and urban living. The river is also a vital component of the environment of the Mt Lofty Ranges, providing water and habitats for a variety of instream and riparian flora and fauna.
The river suffers from significantly reduced flows, which has resulted in degraded riverine and estuarine environments. The Onkaparinga Catchment Water Management Board is seeking to return environmental flows to the Onkaparinga River through a variety of measures. Two of these measures involve low flow bypasses on selected farm dams and formulating planning policy that would assist with the achievement of environmental flows in the long term.
Authors
S.Gatti, P. Hill, H Griffith & S. Smith