Water for Wildlife

There is precious little surface water on Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. The few springs, waterholes and seeps sustain local wildlife, while deep-rooted plant species like river red gums rely on subsurface flows for their survival.

Marathon Resources estimates that it will require between 2 and 2.5 gigalitres of water annually for on-site processing activities in its proposed uranium mine. Converted, the daily requirement will be about 6 million litres for the life of the mine. Process water would most likely be sourced from local aquifers, the
Great Artesian Basin or a combination of both.

Little is known about the nature, extent and sustainability of most shallow aquifer systems in the arid areas of South Australia. Understanding of the interaction of groundwater, sub-surface and surface water, and how readily aquifers are recharged is very limited.

Water, or the lack of it, is on the nation’s lips. With water management of such importance that Australia’s horticulture industry must now restructure, sustainable and equitable water use by all industry groups, including mining must be demanded. The over-utilisation of water resources is likely to have dramatic consequences in the arid zone where recharge is erratic and climate change is already being felt.

“Natural surface water and groundwater systems are in most cases linked, and changes to one or the other of these systems will often affect both.”

Overview to the State of the Catchment Report for the Far North, Gawler Ranges, North East and Flinders Ranges

Extract from Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary’s From the ARK e-newsletter – reprinted with permission