The Lower Limestone Coast Water Allocation Plan combines the areas previously covered by the Comaum-Caroline, Lacepede-Kongorong and the Naracoorte Ranges Prescribed Wells Areas.

The water allocation plans for the Comaum-Caroline, Lacepede Kongorong and Naracoorte Ranges (Lower Limestone Coast) Prescribed Wells Areas were adopted by the then Minister for Water Resources on June 29, 2001. A water allocation plan (WAP) must be reviewed at least once every five years. 

The Lower Limestone Coast Prescribed Wells Area (PWA) was formed in 2004. The review and amendment of the 2001 WAPs commenced in June 2004, with the development of a Proposal Statement (now called a Concept Statement under the Natural Resources Management Act 2004). A Proposal Statement for the Lower Limestone Coast was adopted by the Minister for Environment and Conservation in March 2005, following significant community and government agency input.

The A1 consultation on the preparation of the Plan was undertaken in September 2005. Board staff developed a booklet containing 13 Papers for Community Comment, which formed the basis of the statutory A1 consultation on the preparation of the Water Allocation Plans. A series of five A1 stautory community consultation meetings were held throughout the Lower Limestone Coast PWA during the period September 5-14 2005, with a total of 123 attendees (this number does not include Board members and staff). All licencees and community members were also given the opportunity to provide written submissions. A total of 30 submissions were received by the closing date of September 30, 2005 for the Lower Limestone Coast, Padthaway and Tatiara PWAs.

A key focus of the Board during 2006 was the development of draft forest water policy which would account for and manage plantation forest impacts on groundwater. The Facilitated Forestry Stakeholder Process was held from May to December 2006.

A2 Consultation - December 2007

The A2 consultation was a non-statutory, additional consultation phase undertaken prior to finalisation of the draft Plan. Consultation materials included a series of information sheets and the draft A2 Water Allocation Plan for the area (please see below under the heading “Information Sheets and Other Background Information” for copies of the consultation materials).

To obtain feedback across the region on the proposed changes to the WAP’s, six public meetings were held in December 2007. These meetings were located at:
Coonawarra
Kingston
Naracoorte
Millicent
Mount Gambier - two public meetings (morning and evening sessions)

In addition, two special interest group meetings were held in Mount Gambier, by invitation only:
Forestry stakeholders meeting; and
Lower Limestone Coast Reference Group meeting and non-forestry stakeholders involved in the facilitated forestry stakeholder process in 2006.

A total of 166 people attended the eight meetings, with an average attendance of approximately 20 people per meeting.

In addition to the public consultation meetings, three information forums were held across the region (Mount Gambier, Kingston and Naracoorte) to provide further opportunity for members of the public to ask questions about the proposed changes to the WAP’s . Staff from both the SE NRM Board and the Department of Water Land and Biodiversity Conservation were available to discuss issues one-on-one and provide further information at these forums. Community members were encouraged to drop-in anytime during the times scheduled for the information forums. Approximately 45 people attended the three forums.

Written submissions were also invited during the consultation phase. A total of 65 written submissions were received on the draft Lower Limestone Coast Water Allocation Plan.

The information collected from the public meetings is summarised in a report. This information, plus the written submissions, will assist the SE NRM Board as they continue to develop the WAP to ensure it will protect the long-term sustainability of the resource for both the environment and the communities that rely on the resource. 

All A2 submissions are available for the public to view - given the volume they cannot be accessed via this website.  A summary of these submissions is available below.   Please contact the SE NRM Board on 8724 6000 for a complete copy of all submissions.