Local farmers met with State Government agencies in Lock on Friday to discuss falling water levels at the Polda Basin.
Landholders accessing the basin in Lock and Sheringa feel that pumping by SA Water from the Polda Basin has reduced water levels below sustainability.
In the 1970s the Polda Basin was SA Water’s primary water supply for the Eyre Peninsula but the agency stopped using the basin in 2008 and is now prohibited from pumping.
However, local landholders say that SA Water’s historical pumping has significantly contributed to the problem and that many of them can no longer access water from the basin.
“I think the hydro-geologist (who addressed the meeting) was trying to prove that pumping didn’t make a difference but the water is lower now than it’s ever been before,” Trevor Spiers, former owner of Polda Station, said.
The current owners of Polda Station – Russell and Melanie Butcher – believe SA Water should have stopped pumping water from the basin well before last year.
“SA Water have been constantly testing these waters, they knew levels were dropping, and they just kept pumping…until their pumps were sucking air,” Russell said.
Terre Station accesses the Polda Station at its shallowest point where, according to owners Scott and Nicole Linsell, water is no longer accessible with existing bores.
“We have one well left that’s working on our property and that’s struggling,” Scott said.
“When we bought the property four years ago there was water in every well and there was nine of them.
“We bought during the winter months but within three months of purchasing our property, we lost 90 per cent of the water and we’re now on mains water. Now we’re pretty bloody pissed.”
According to Scott, established gum trees on surrounding stations are also starting to fail as water levels drop.
“It seems unfair that we’re paying for water that should have been in our wells,” Nicole said.
“When you look in the hole and there is no water then all the figures in the world don’t mean much. Let’s face it, these guys will go home and turn on their taps and they’ll still have water.”
While the State Government has made a commitment to support Polda Basin farmers in finding a water solution, a hydro-geologist told landholders that the falling basin rates echo decreasing rainfall since the 1980s and is just one of several basins on Eyre Peninsula registering a significant fall in water levels.
The State Government estimates that SA Water had pumped around 14GL from the Polda Basin since 1980, which equates to a water level drop of 0.78m in a 120km2 area. By contrast, the levels have fallen by about 2.9m in that period and Bureau of Meteorology records show yearly rainfall has been consistently decreasing on Eyre Peninsula since the 1980s.
“Our farm is just not sustainable at this point,” Scott Linsell said. “We don’t have the water to run the stock. If we don’t run stock, we can’t afford to pay for the land. But to continue to run stock we now have to buy water off SA Water.
“They can blame the climate – but it’s not just climate at fault.”
Dean Brown, advisor to the premier on drought issues, facilitated Friday’s meeting between landholders, SA Water, the EP NRM and other state agencies.
“I think it’s been a very frank and open discussion between the agencies and landholders,” he said. “There has been time for everyone to raise their concerns.
We’ve had an opportunity to set down how monitoring of the basin should continue to occur and how the (Water Allocation Plan) consultation process should be conducted within the local community.
“We have an undertaking that the prohibition on SA Water (accessing the Polda Basin) not be lifted before there’s adequate consultation with the local community.”
In the 1970s the Polda Basin was SA Water’s primary water supply for the Eyre Peninsula but during the 1980s SA Water’s pumping allocation was more than halved.
Allocations were successively reduced in the 90s and 00s with SA Water consistently sourcing less than its allowed amount in the early 00s.
In May 2008, SA Water voluntarily stopped pumping from the Polda Basin, meeting with local landowners in June 2008. In November 2008, the State Government prohibited SA Water from pumping from the Polda Basin.
A finalised Water Allocation Plan (WAP) – which will decide who can pump from the basin in the future, and how much - will be completed in 2012. Consultation with local communities on the WAP is expected to begin in coming months.
In the meantime, SA Water’s Eyre Peninsula customers will now be supplied from the Uley Basin and River Murray – which still have their own restrictions on water allocations.
Both the premier’s advisor and landholders called for greater involvement at a local level.
“There’s a gap between what the science is telling us and what the farmers are finding on their properties,” Lock landholder Tim Van Loon said. “Going forward, we should be finding a way to bridge that gap.”
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