National Water Commission

The Patawalonga water management area is within South Australia and is 231 km².

The Patawalonga groundwater management unit (GMU) and surface water management area (SWMA) share the same boundaries. 

Management indicator data for the Patawalonga GMU is provided via the 'Management Indicators GMU' tab above.
Management indicator data for the Patawalonga SWMA is provided via the 'Management Indicators GMU' tab in the report for the Patawalonga SWMA, via the link in the list below. 

The SWMA report also includes a more detailed introduction and information about water resources, water balance and water use for both the Patawalonga GMU and SWMA.

Related Water Management Areas

The links below provide access to similar reports.

There were permanent water conservation measures during 2004-05. Rainfall and streamflow was close to the long term average (Table 1).

Rainfall in 2004-05 was 553 mm, which is about 97% of the long term average and about 99% of the rainfall over the last 10 years (Figure 2). Rainfall decreases rapidly across the water management area towards the coast (~60% decline). Rainfall in the area occurs primarily during the winter (Figure 3).

Runoff in the area is a mixture of runoff and stormwater in the Adelaide City portion of the catchment. During 2004-05, streamflow in the water management area was above average (Figure 4). This may be the result of increased large rainfall events (see June rainfall in Figure 3) which tend to result in larger than normal surges of stormwater.

Groundwater levels in the water management area are seasonally variable and have shown a slow decline over the past 50 years (Figure 5). This is probably the result of a decrease in groundwater recharge due to the increasing urbanisation of Adelaide.

Table 1 Summary of Patawalonga water management area contextual information

Figure 2 Annual rainfall for the Patawalonga water management area (modified from BOM, 2006)




Figure 3 Monthly rainfall and evaporation for the Patawalonga water management area (modified from BOM, 2006 & Climate Atlas)




Figure 4 Representative streamflow hydrograph for the Patawalonga water management area for Sturt River U/S Minno Creek Junction (gauge A5040518)




Figure 5 Representative hydrograph for the Patawalonga water management area

Summary of the total water resources in the basin

The total volumes of water in the Patawalonga WMA are shown in Table 2. Flow for the Sturt River and Brownhill Creek in 2004-05 was slightly above the long term average.

Table 2 Summary of water balance in the Patawalonga water management area, 2004-05

 

Figure 6 Water balance summary diagram for Patawalonga water management area

Outcomes from the water cycle report

The following information becomes apparent from Table 2.

• Urban stormwater was the main component of surface water outflow in the Patawalonga water management area.
• Groundwater discharge was significantly higher than recharge due to groundwater mining of the tertiary aquifer. This resulted in a decrease in aquifer storage during 2004-05.
• The error item for this catchment was low at 8%.
• Groundwater pumping was not well understood and as such was estimated. Groundwater discharge was from a pre development model.
• 65,000 ML of surface water was transferred into the WMA from storages outside the catchment and the River Murray to provide for the Adelaide water supply.
• Water 2010 estimates for recharge and surface water runoff were too low and high respectively and were not used.
• Approximately 88% of groundwater recharge was discharged to surface water as baseflow.
• Data could not be obtained for the following items in the water balance:
• Groundwater storage volumes (renewable and non-renewable)
• Soil - unsaturated zone storage volumes
• River channels storage volumes
• Seepage from streams to groundwater
• Some groundwater extraction volumes
• Farm dams

Summary of data availability and reliability

Surface water flow in the Patawalonga Area is well known. Surface water outflow data is measured from stream flow gauges on Sturt River and Brownhill creek. Groundwater data is less well known and is taken from models or estimates. For most of the balance there is no information.

The data for this water balance are predominantly category B (Table 3), indicating that the majority of the data was estimated. In addition, 75% of the fields have no information for them either due to them being not applicable (e.g. conveyance losses from irrigation channels), or not available (farm dams). The overall reliability index for the catchment was ±85%.

Table 3 Summary of Patawalonga water management area reliability data

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This page provides high level performance indicators of water management for the Patawalonga groundwater management unit (GMU) based on information provided by the government of SA. It provides answers to a range of questions of relevance to the National Water Initiative (NWI), specifically in relation to: Groundwater management framework Water resource caps Surface water / groundwater interaction Sustainable groundwater yield Environmental allowances / provisions Groundwater diversions Groundwater entitlements Please note that a dash means that either the data was not available, not provided or that the question was not relevant for a particular area. Groundwater management unit Patawalonga Project ID SA_GW_54 Size of groundwater management unit 237 km² State SA Groundwater management framework What is the status of the water management plan for this groundwater management unit? Final If a final or draft plan has been written, what year was it completed? - If a final or draft plan has been written, does it explicitly consider surface water? - If yes, how? - Does your water plan specify water quality objectives to meet environmental and other public benefit outcomes? - Other items included in the management framework are: Metering program for this area - Effluent recycling - Climate change - Aquifer storage and recovery - Efficient irrigation systems - Other - Management plan available at: Water resource caps Has a cap been placed on groundwater usage / abstraction in this groundwater management unit? Yes Is the cap an absolute limit to allocation or provisional limit? Provisional If there is a cap, what year was it implemented? 2004 If there is a cap, is it considered to represent the sustainable groundwater yield? - The following water usage types are included/not included under the cap: Irrigation Included Urban supply Included Commercial / Industrial Included Stock and domestic Not included Mining / Oil and gas Included Forestry Not included Drought supply Not included Greywater use Not included Effluent recycling Not included Aquifer storage and recovery Not included Other Not included Surface water / groundwater interaction Are groundwater and surface water managed as an integrated water resource in this groundwater management unit? No Reason or method: The connectivity is unknown Sustainable groundwater yield The sustainable yield within this groundwater management unit for 2004/05 was: - ML The method used to determine the sustainable yield was: - Was the sustainable yield determined for the combined (i.e. surface water and groundwater) water resources? - Is the cap considered to be at or below the sustainable yield of surface water? - If the cap is above the sustainable yield, are there management actions to bring the cap down to sustainable yield? - How has the aquifer responded? - Does this aquifer trend require a management response? - What is the level of development relative to the sustainable yield? Low level of development Environmental allowances / provisions Have groundwater dependent ecosystems been identified for this groundwater management unit? No If yes, in what year were they identified? - If yes,  what type (s) of groundwater dependent ecosystems have been identified? Terrestrial vegetation - River base flow systems - Aquifer and cave ecosystems - Wetlands - Terrestrial fauna - Estuarine and near shore marine ecosystems - Other - Have environmental water requirements for the identified groundwater dependent ecosystems been determined? - Have environmental water provisions for the identified groundwater dependent ecosystems been formally adopted / approved? - Do the environmental water provisions take into account surface water? - If yes, how? - Completed environmental water requirement/provision reports available at: Groundwater diversions The total groundwater extraction in the groundwater management unit for 2004/05 was: Less than 500 ML What percentage of groundwater extraction is determined from metered data? - What is the level of diversions relative to the sustainable yield? - For surface water diversion that is NOT metered, how was the surface water diversion determined for 2004/05? Estimated from irrigated areas - Estimated from licence volume - Estimated from power usage for pumps - Estimated from models - Other - Groundwater entitlements Entitlements for groundwater are required/not required for the following usage types: Irrigation - Urban supply - Commercial / Industrial - Farm dams - Stock and domestic - Mining / Oil and gas - Forestry - Floodplain harvesting - Drought supply - Greywater use - Effluent recycling - Aquifer storage and recovery - Other - Related links The links below provide access to similar reports for surface water management areas (SWMAs) that overlap this groundwater management unit (GMU).

Patawalonga

Lower Torrens

Onkaparinga

Adelaide