Eyre Peninsula WAP

MERI Plan

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Ben Smith – Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting Officer

Dr Greg Kerr – Landscape Ecologist

WAP MERI Plan

• DEWNR responsible for

monitoring

• MERI Plan currently being

reviewed by DEWNR

• Will be released following

Minister’s approval of the WAP

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

In or Out of the WAP?

• MERI Plan will be a separate to the WAP

• It is a living document

• Allows us to update the MERI Plan as required

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Monitoring Network

• Salinity and water level monitoring across all

freshwater lenses in both Musgrave and Southern

Basins PWA

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Musgrave

Southern Basins

Telemetered Wells

• Installation of additional telemetered wells in Uley

Wanilla and Lincoln South lenses

• Data available in real time on Water Connect

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Lincoln North

• Identified as a data gap

• New monitoring

network to be

established

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

GDE Monitoring

Key Monitoring Objectives

1. Identify the priority groundwater dependent

ecosystems (GDE’s)

Wetlands

Phreatophytes

2. Quantify the baseline GDE condition

3. Identify the cause of any observed change in

condition

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Assessing Wetland

Condition

• Assessing vegetation

condition within zones along

a ground- water gradient

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Assessing

Bushland Condition

• Using the protocols

developed by the Nature

Conservation Society of

South Australia

• 10 condition indicators

• Specific condition

indicators for each of the

vegetation communities

on Eyre Peninsula

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Assessing Ground

Water Dependent

Tree ConditionRiver Red Gum

• Using Souter et al. 2009

• developed to assess the

status and monitor the effect

of management on water

stressed river red gum

• assesses current condition

and the direction of travel

along a decline/recovery

trajectoryNatural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Citizen Science

• Citizen science enlists the public in collecting data.

• A Citizen Scientist is a volunteer who collects

and/or processes data as part of a scientific

enquiry.

• Monitoring of tree condition presents an excellent

opportunity to involve the community in data

collection

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula

Thankyou

Natural Resources

Eyre Peninsula