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Goolwa Channel

On 18 December 2009, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts decided that South Australia's proposal for the long-term placement of flow regulators in the Goolwa Channel and its tributaries will require further assessment and approval. Assessment will be by Environmental Impact Statement, which will be prepared by the South Australian Department of Environment and Heritage. The Guidelines, which will direct South Australian Government in preparing the Environmental Impact Statement, have now been finalised. The next step is for South Australia to prepare the draft Environmental Impact Statement, which will be released for public comment when it is complete.

Wellington Weir

On 10 July 2009, the South Australian Government submitted the Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposal to construct a temporary weir (the Wellington Weir) near Pomanda Island, Lake Alexandrina, South Australia.

• Supplementary EIS (SA Department of Environment and Heritage) 

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts must make a decision on whether to approve the Wellington Weir under national environmental law. This decision had been due on 27 January 2010, but the Minister stopped the clock on this decision on 21 December 2009 to seek further information about the project.

The deadline for a decision now depends on the time that it takes for South Australia to provide the requested information.

If approval is granted under national environmental law, the final decision on whether or not to build the Wellington Weir will be up to the South Australian Government.

The South Australian Government has referred six proposals for consideration under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Some decisions have been made and some assessment processes are ongoing.

Current assessments

• The referral to establish the Wellington Weir (EPBC 2007/3484) which was determined to be a controlled action in July 2007. The Wellington Weir, if approved and constructed, is a temporary weir aiming to protect Adelaide's water supply.
• The referral to open the barrages that separate the Lower Lakes from the Coorong (EPBC 2008/4618). The aim of this proposal is to allow seawater to keep the potential acid sulphate soil wet, and buffer the impacts of actual acid sulphate soil. The proposal has been deemed a controlled action. The draft guidelines for the environmental impact statement were released for public comment on Monday 2 February 2009. The Guidelines for the EIS were provided to the South Australian Government on 12 March 2009. The South Australian Government is preparing an EIS based on these guidelines.
• The referral for the continuing placement of flow regulators in the Goolwa Channel (EPBC 2009/5227). This is part of a long-term management strategy to mitigate risks from acid sulfate soils and create an ecological refuge. The Minister decided that the project was a controlled action on 18 December 2009, and that it would be assessed by means of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Decisions made

• The referral to construct flow regulators in the Goolwa Channel, Finniss River and Currency Creek, SA, and to pump 27.5 GL of water from Lake Alexandrina into the Goolwa Channel (EPBC 2009/4833) was received on 6 April 2009. It was determined on 12 May 2009 that this proposal was unlikely to have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance, provided it was undertaken in a particular manner. This was based on the flow regulators being an emergency measure, and only being in place until 6 May 2011.
• The referral to upgrade the Pomanda Peninsula causeway to allow passage to the proposed Wellington Weir embankment site on Pomanda Island (EPBC 2008/4674) was referred to the department on 23 December 2009. The minister decided on 23 January 2009 that this proposal was unlikely to have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance and therefore did not require further assessment.
• The referral to construct an irrigation pipeline (EPBC 2009/4743) connecting Jervois on the Murray River to irrigators in the Langhorne Creek and Currency Creek area northwest of Lake Alexandrina was received on Wednesday 18 February 2009. It was determined on 18 March 2009 that this proposal was unlikely to have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance, provided it was undertaken in a particular manner.

Further information

• SA emergency action in the Goolwa Channel can go ahead - media release 12 May 2009
• Final terms of reference for barrage EIS - media release 12 March 2009
• Environmental impact statement for Wellington Weir (EPBC 2007/3484) - flow chart (PDF - 83 KB) |  (RTF - 87 KB)
• Environmental impact statement for opening the Barrage Network (EPBC 2008/4618) - flow chart (PDF - 24 KB)
• Assessments in the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth areas of South Australia - fact sheet (PDF - 584 KB) |  (RTF - 45 KB)
• Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Ramsar Wetland - fact sheet