Barossa Water Allocation Plan
Have your say
Consultation on the Barossa Water Allocation Plan amendment has now closed. The Northern and Yorke Landscape Board has compiled the feedback received during the statutory consultation, and the Consultation Report, updated 2025 data, and licensing information will be available soon on the Your Say page used for the consultation. The final amended Plan will be submitted to the Minister for approval, with implementation planned from 1 July 2026.
View the interactive map to see where your property is as part of the Barossa Prescribed Water Resources Area.
The original Water Allocation Plan (WAP) for the Barossa Prescribed Water Resources Area (PWRA) was adopted in 2009.
The WAP aims to:
- protect the resource for all water users and water dependent ecosystems, now and into the future
- provide greater certainty for water users.
The 2009 WAP was developed by the former Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board. Since 2020, the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board has continued the process of updating and amending it, with public consultation of the draft amended WAP now underway. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated on the process.
Amendment process
In 2024 the draft amended Barossa WAP was reviewed by the Department for the Environment and Water and the Crown Solicitor’s Office to ensure it is technically and legally sound. The public consultation process is now open.
An amendment of the Barossa WAP has been undertaken using updated science and monitoring information for the surface water and groundwater resources of the Barossa Prescribed Water Resources Area. Modelling and climate forecasting has provided information about the current and future availability of water, and the impacts of different levels of extraction for a range of climate scenarios.
As part of this process, workshops, forums and surveys during 2022 and 2023 presented the science and monitoring data and provided an opportunity for discussions about management options. Targeted engagement with the Ngadjuri, Peramangk and Kaurna First Nations people occurred to incorporate Aboriginal water interests for the first time.
View the presentations:
- Overview of the ecology of the aquatic ecosystems of Barossa PWRA by Doug Green, Senior Ecologist, DEW Science, Evaluation and Reporting Team
- Barossa PWRA: Groundwater processes & status of the resources by DEW's Steve Barnett, Principal Hydrogeologist Darren Alcoe, Manager Groundwater Assessments and Reporting
- Barossa WAP Review - Science Investigations: Changing(ed?) climate and implications to water planning in the Barossa PWRA by DEW Water Science & Monitoring Team, Kumar Savadamuthu, Principal Hydrologist Kumar Savadamuthu, Principal Hydrologist and Daniel McCullough, Senior Hydrologist
- Unbundling water licenses by Jennifer Munro, Planning Officer, Northern and Yorke Landscape Board