Aldinga Washpool to become a protected conservation area

The South Australian Government has stepped in to protect the Aldinga Washpool in Adelaide’s south - a well-known habitat for a wide range of native species and one of Adelaide’s last remaining coastal freshwater and estuarine lagoon systems.

The Washpool land will be combined with the adjacent Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park to create one new conservation park.

Aldinga Washpool is home to birds and swamp plants of conservation significance, including a threatened coastal saltmarsh that’s nationally listed as a vulnerable threatened ecological community. The Washpool is also of considerable spiritual and cultural significance to the Kaurna people and contains numerous archaeological sites and artefacts.

South Australian Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs notes “this is a significant moment for the local community who have been championing for the Aldinga Washpool to be protected for decades.

“By combining the Aldinga Washpool land with the nearby Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park we will create a fantastic ecological and cultural haven just south of Adelaide.

“In 2018, a Washpool Working Group was established, and we have been working closely with this group to ensure the land’s cultural and environmental values be protected and restored.

“The Department for Environment and Water, SA Water, Green Adelaide, City of Onkaparinga and other members of the working group have been working on flood mitigation, stormwater management, weed control, revegetation plans, water quality and protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage.”

“We will now work with the local community about the future management, and a planning process will commence next year to consolidate hydrological, ecological, and cultural work done so far.”

Recognising its cultural and environmental significance, and that it’s now surplus to SA Water operational requirements, the entirety of the Aldinga Washpool land has been transferred, encompassing five allotments totalling 31.64 hectares. There is also a mix of State Government tenures in the process of being transferred.

When complete, the total area of land added to park will be about 74 hectares.

Image credit Landscape SA