What is a “Regional Recharge Farm”? – Let’s talk about land management that can deliver local aquifer and environmental benefits

There has been some media lately in the South East of South Australia (the Limestone Coast), that has introduced an exciting new concept in water management for the region – after the local Landscape Board attracted recent investment to establish what have been dubbed “Regional Recharge Farms”. If you are one of the many people wondering what a Regional Recharge Farm is, you are not alone, so please read on!

As NGT is a key partner with the Limestone Coast Landscape Board (LCLB) for the new project(s), we are happy to provide some background and context. Firstly, the LCLB has produced the 1-page fact sheet below which explains their perspective on the new concept.

Regional-Recharge-Farm-LCLB-Final

Beyond the basic background information and definition provided here, we are pleased to report that NGT’s partnership with the LCLB will result in us establishing the first two private “Regional Recharge Farm” test case sites at NGT’s Mt Burr Swamp and Hutt Bay Wetland Restoration Reserves. The partnership will provide new investment into the next phase of natural wetland restoration works planned to occur at both properties, and monitor those works to establish their relationship to, and interaction with, local groundwater hydrology. For an existing example of this concept on public land, take a look at the image below of Pick Swamp.

Looking north along the levee bank at Pick Swamp, the western boundary of Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park. On the right is an example of active management of drains to benefit a groundwater dependent ecosystem that is home to a wide range of threatened species and other environmental values. Photo: Mark Bachmann

If you would like to learn more about NGT’s role in the Regional Recharge Farm concept, its origins, an example of what it can look like, and our hopes for how it might become an option for land managers who are interested to retain water in the landscape in the future, please either download our discussion paper here, or read it the pdf viewer below.

Discussion-Paper-NGT-and-Regional-Recharge-Farms-12th-Oct-2021-v3

The upcoming projects at Mt Burr Swamp and Hutt Bay Wetland are supported by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board.

Mark Bachmann