Wachtels Lagoon

• Location: Weir Pool 3, River Chainage Markers 449 to 440
• Land Tenure: Crown Record 
• Wetland Size: 678 hectares (Ha)
• Normal Pool Level: 9.8 mAHD

Vegetation composition at Wachtels Lagoon includes river red gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and black box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) with an understory of lignum, and grasses and sedges in low lying areas. Samphire can be seen on the low lying salt affected soils. Dense reeds line much of the shore line in the lagoon with grasses and samphire dominating further up the banks[5].

This area is an important nesting habitat for numerous waterbird species, particularly during flood periods. Large numbers of great cormorants nest in the lagoon lagoon[5]. An exclusion zone exists within the lagoon to protect white-bellied sea eagles that are found nesting in this location.

• Berri Barmera Council
• Berri Barmera Landcare
• Central Irrigation Trust (CIT)
• Commonwealth Environmental Water Office
• Loxton Waikerie Council
• Loxton Waikerie Landcare
• Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board
• National Parks and Wildlife SA
• River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC)
• South Australian Murray Irrigators (SAMI)
• SA Water
• Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA)

1. DEW. Riverland [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Aug 24]. Available from: https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/managing-natural-resources/river-murray/about-the-river/riverland
2. UNESCO. Biosphere Reserves-Riverland [Internet]. Biosphere Reserves-Riverland. 2015 [cited 2020 Aug 24]. Available from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/asia-and-the-pacific/australia/riverland/
3. Australian Government. Australia’s Biosphere Reserves [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Aug 24]. Available from: https://www.environment.gov.au/node/20937
4. Protected Planet. Moorook in Australia [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Aug 24]. Available from: https://www.protectedplanet.net/9490
5. DEW. Loch Luna and Moorook Game Reserves [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Aug 24]. Available from: https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/find-a-park/Browse_by_region/Murray_River/loch-luna-moorook-game-reserves
6. Grealish G, Shand P, Grocke S, Baker A, Fitzpatrick R, Hicks W. Assessment of Acid Sulfate Soil Materials in the Lock 1 to Lock 5 Region of the Murray-Darling Basin. CSIRO: Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship.; 2010.

Click   here   to download the Lock 3 Reach Master Plan

Development of the master plan began in July 2019 as an initiative of the South Australian Government’s South Australian Floodplains Integrated Infrastructure Program (SARFIIP) a $155 million investment program funded by the Australian Government through the Murray Darling Basin Authority and implemented by the South Australian Government to improve the watering and management of River Murray floodplains in South Australia’s Riverland.

The state government acknowledges Aboriginal people as the First Peoples and Nations of the lands and waters we live and work upon and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge and respect the deep spiritual connection and the relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have to Country. We work in partnership with the First Peoples of South Australia and support their Nations to take a leading role in caring for their Country.