Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Water resources - Overview - South Australia


Location map of SWMA Warburton (SA) Margin of unnamed lake, Great Victorian Desert Source: Department for Environment and Heritage.

Surface Water Management Area: Warburton (SA)

Introduction

Copyright

The description ot the Warburton SWMA refers to the SA area only.

Bordered by the Musgrave, Mann and Tomkinson Ranges to the north, the SWMA is dominated by sand dunes and salt lakes of the Great Victoria Desert.

Vital Statistics:

Area: 185,000 Km2
Total storage volume: no data
Total surface water use: 0 ML/yr
Development category: LOW DEVELOPMENT
Mean annual run-off: 25,000 ML/yr

Please note:

No data were supplied about total surface water use for some river basins (eg. unregulated basins in NSW).

A four-class classification system was developed to provide a simple method to communicate the status of the use and allocation of Australia's water resources in relation to sustainable water management.

It is important to recognise that adequately quantifying a sustainable flow regime or sustainable yield and consequent operating rules is a complex matter. State, Territory and scientific agencies continue to develop and apply methods and measures for determining sustainable flow regimes and sustainable yields.

This categorisation provides a general guide only. Please refer to the State and Territory Overview and Technical reports for detail on the analysis methods used.

CategoryDevelopment status
1<30% Low development
230 - 70% Moderate development
370 - 100% Highly developed
4100% Overdeveloped

* Water use as a percentage of sustainable flow regime (surface water) and sustainable yield (groundwater)

PLEASE NOTE:

Sustainable Yield:

Surface water resources are based on 1985 NLWRA data as no new data are available and are only considered indicative. Large volumes can become available for relatively short periods of time on an infrequent basis. The far north of South Australia is highly sensitive and any water resource development would have a significant environmental impact (SWP 2000).

How saline are the surface water resources in the Warburton (SA) surface water management area?

Table: Surface water resource by salinity class.

Total Volume, Divertible Yield (ML/Yr)
Total volume (ML/yr), DIVERSION0
<500 mg/l (ML/yr)no data
500 mg/l (ML/yr) - 1500 mg/l (ML/yr)no data
1500 mg/l (ML/yr) - 5000 mg/l (ML/yr)no data
5000 mg/l (ML/yr) - 14000 mg/l (ML/yr)no data
> 14000 mg/l (ML/yr)no data

Major water storages

Table: Major water storage areas:

There were no major water storages reported in this area as part of the assessment

Further Information

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