South East irrigators are likely to see some changes to their licences and may even face cuts to their water allocations - but not for a few years.
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The Limestone Coast Landscape Board announced that a review process - including a stakeholder advisory group - had found amendments were needed to the Lower Limestone Coast Water Allocation Plan, which was adopted a decade ago.
LCLB planning and engagement manager Liz Perkins says no specifics have been decided upon, but some concerns have been flagged about the long-term sustainability of the region's valuable aquifers.
About 80 per cent of the observation wells across the region, which are monitored two to three times a year, showed a decline between 2017 and 2021.
Of particular concern was this trend was with only 50pc of the allowed extraction being activated.
"Some of the allocation is a holding licence or where people have tried to activate their licence near a wetland, but a large amount is water which could be activated or moved which could then be developed with infrastructure at any time, so we need to look at it as if all that water is available to use," Dr Perkins said.
More specific details for the region's nearly 3000 irrigators could be available later this year, but Dr Perkins said the review period was likely to take until the end of 2027, giving time for extensive consultation.
Dr Perkins says provisions for the environment are small compared to many other water allocation plans and there were already some concerns, especially in the area south of Mount Gambier.
"The way the current plan works each management area has a total recharge value, 90pc of that is available for extraction and 10pc for the environment, but there are examples where this is above 90pc extraction," she said.
"Some areas were allocated on recharge values that are quite old numbers developed back in the 1970s."
Dr Perkins says the review period needed to consider what is an "acceptable impact on the landscape".
"We are seeing some wetlands going dry for the first time or reducing in area," she said.
"Irrigation extraction is complex, but we are also seeing a seasonal pumping effect with some areas seasonally drying out at the end of every autumn."
At the last review in 2013, forestry was added to the plan, with all new plantations requiring a water licence.
Dr Perkins says there are no plans to exempt any of the primary industries covered by the document, but some of these industries want the latest science and groundwater modelling.
There is also a need where possible to reduce the complexity of licences, she said.
"What the different industries have been saying, especially those who may not have held a licence at the time the last plan came in, is that the delivery components and other additions such as specialist requirements for certain crops can be complex," she said.
"As we begin the amendment process, we are now well-positioned with robust data, scientific knowledge, and the foundational framework of the current plan."
Dr Perkins said they had reached out to licensees but encouraged other stakeholders such as dryland farmers and those with stock and domestic bores to take opportunities to contribute to the development of the revised plan too.
SA Dairyfarmers' Association president Robert Brokenshire acknowledges the need for a review, but also wants the dairy industry to go ahead in the region and for the local economy to not be stifled.
He says SADA will be watching everything with a "microscopic lens" to ensure any decisions made are "absolutely necessary".
SADA has had a representative on the review committee and has been hearing from dairyfarmers in the region about two main concerns about the Limestone Coast Water Allocation Plan.
"The first is the data that they are making decisions on is only a small time period and doesn't include the last two years," he said.
"They should have this info and it should be made public.
"In the past two years, we have had some very good recharge.
"Secondly, they shouldn't be working on a hypothetical of the management zones all being 100pc activated when they aren't.
"All of the allocations given to irrigators were after field assessments by hydrology officers of the department - those allocations are equity for a farmer, just like land, so if there needs to be cuts there needs to be compensation."
Mr Brokenshire said the state government and Landscape SA should be looking at incentives to encourage irrigators across the state to become more efficient, not just looking at cutting allocations.
WARNING SIGNS AT THE END OF THE LINE
For the first time in nearly 90 years, a drain which is fed from the overflow of a karst rising spring has run dry on the Feast family's property at Wye, south of Mount Gambier.
Jo Feast says she was in the tractor feeding out hay when she glanced across and it "hit her in the face" that the drain, which has flowed year round and eventually finds its way to the Southern Ocean, was a dry crust.
It has been a dry couple of months, but they had above-average winter rainfall, and Ms Feast fears the spring dropping is an early warning sign of an aquifer in trouble.
"We are at the end of the line, so if there is nothing left (in the underground water table) we won't get it - this should be a concern for everyone," Jo's son Morgan said.
The Feasts have always farmed with nature, fencing off teatree and native orchids and carefully managing areas which connect with Ramsar-listed Pick Swamp and Piccaninnie Ponds.
Ms Feast says it is heartbreaking that Morgan - the fifth generation to run the 600-hectare property - may not have a future farming if the stock water becomes too brackish or their second spring also drops.
This time last year, they lost two young heifers, which according to the vet, had clinical signs of salt toxicity, including blindness.
"Everyone has a right to farm and everybody has a right to that resource," she said.
"We need the basic right to fresh water.
"If we can't get that because the government has allowed the volumes of irrigation licence to go ahead, the government needs to correct that now."
Dr Perkins says the Landscape Board has visited the Feast family's property on a couple of occasions and is closely monitoring the area which sits in the SA- Vic border region.
Under the Landscapes SA Act 2019, Environment Minister Susan Close does have the power to alter irrigation allocations in specific management areas, but Dr Perkins says there are no plans at this stage for this.
