Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Water resources - Allocation and Use - South Australia

Location map of Muloorina (Wellfield B)

Groundwater Management Unit: Muloorina (Wellfield B)

The National Water Reform Framework requires the development of comprehensive systems of water allocations or entitlements, backed by separation of water property rights from land and clear specification of entitlements in terms of ownership, volume, reliability, transferability and, if appropriate, quality. In addition State agencies are required to undertake formal determination of water allocations or entitlements, including allocations for the environment as a legitimate user of water.

Water use estimates have been derived from a number of different methods including the use of licencing systems, information provided as part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics water account (with provider consent) and other information gathered from the State and Territory water agencies. In some cases water use was assumed to be the same as the allocation. For groundwater systems, it is well known that this assumption is often invalid (e.g. typically where use exceeds allocation significantly).

How is the groundwater being used?

Total water use for Muloorina (Wellfield B) is 5,500 ML/yr with a sustainable yield of no data ML.

Chart of proportion of total water use by use classes
Use Type1996 Use Volume (ML/yr)Average Use (ML/yr)Method of estimation
Urban / Industrial
- mining5,500no dataESTIMATE

How much groundwater is allocated in the Muloorina (Wellfield B) Groundwater Management Unit, and for what purpose?

Chart of proportion of groundwater allocation by allocation classes
Use Type1996 Allocation (ML/yr)Average Allocation (ML/yr)Alloc Type
Urban / Industrial
- mining15,000no dataO

Allocation Methods and Policy:

Further information

Key

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