Groundwater

Groundwater is water found beneath the surface of the earth that is often accessed via pumping from bores and wells. Groundwater accumulates chiefly from rain that filters through the soil. It also forms from water that seeps into the ground from lakes and ponds.

The water settles into the pores and cracks of underground rocks and into the spaces between grains of sand and pieces of gravel. A level or bed of porous materials that contains useful amounts of groundwater is called an aquifer.

Groundwater is used for drinking water supplies throughout the South East (Blue Lake in Mount Gambier) and on the Eyre Peninsula. Many of South Australia's remote communities also rely entirely on groundwater to supply potable water needs.

The Great Artesian Basin, one of the largest groundwater aquifers in the world, plays a big part in water supplies for remote South Australia. The 'GAB' underlies 22% of Australia and has an estimated storage of 8,700 million megalitres. The resource is vital for the survival of many regional industries and outback plant and animal communities."

South Australia's groundwater resources are critical to the State, providing social, economic and environmental benefits. Groundwater provides much of the State's irrigation water for horticulture, agriculture and viticulture and an invaluable drinking water supply to regions where there is little surface water run-off and effective storage sites are not available. Groundwater is also fundamental to maintaining flows in many of the State's creeks, rivers, wetlands and coastal waters.

Some areas of the State’s groundwater are protected from overuse by a licensing system, referred to as prescription. Under this system, landholders must obtain a license that then enables them to extract a certain amount of water from the ground each year.