Abstract
Developing a good working knowledge of water in the landscape and the connectivity between surface and groundwater is germane to a resilient sustainable water supply to sustain human activities and a healthy environment, particularly in the drier parts of Australia. This paper presents a case study in the semi-arid Flinders Ranges of South Australia in which eliciting local knowledge from landholders was a key element in mapping surface and groundwater and investigating the connectivity between water resources. Local landholders provided a vital source of information to augment the limited scientific data initially available on groundwater resources. Groundwater recharge in the region comes from local rainfall onto individual unconnected groundwater catchments. In most of the region water supply seems to have been maintained over the longer term but there are a number of sites where former active springs are now dry or much reduced in size and water supplies from bores have substantially changed in quantity and quality. The involvement of landholders in the investigation of water resources encouraged them to consider the resource context of their stock watering points and incorporate more science into their understanding of the water resources that they rely on. This stimulated interest in investigating more about local water resources and changes in water management practices.
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Notes
As the study proceeded it became clear that the knowledge held by the local indigenous people would reflect a much longer timeframe and would therefore be a very valuable addition. A proposal to do this has been developed.
The study was conducted during a period of institutional change. For convenience, we refer to ‘natural resource management groups’ throughout although the equivalent bodies had a different name at the start of the study. Natural resource management groups are local advisory bodies of the South Australian Arid Lands Regional NRM Board which has statutory powers for water resource management and other functions in northern South Australia under the Natural Resource Management Act 2005 [SA]. The groups are successors to local Soil Conservation Boards that existed under the Soil Conservation and Landcare Act 1989 [SA] and were disbanded in 2005. The members of these Boards were local landowners appointed by the Minister to act as the interface between government and community. These Boards had statutory powers to produce a District Soil Conservation plan and then to implement policies and programs specified in the plan. In the study area much of the function, but not the statutory powers, of the former Northern Flinders District Soil Conservation Board was assumed by the Northern Flinders District Group. As a natural resource management group, it works with the NRM Board under the Natural Resource Management Act, 2005.
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Acknowledgements
The project that forms the background to this paper was supported by an Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust grant administered by the South Australian Arid Lands NRM Board. The authors are also grateful to the reviewers who provided many helpful suggestions for ways to improve the content.
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Clark, I., Brake, L. Using local knowledge to improve understanding of groundwater supplies in parts of arid South Australia. GeoJournal 74, 441–450 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-008-9236-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-008-9236-7