Weir Pool 3 Reach

• Location: River Chainage Markers 516.2 to 431.1, Bookpurnong to Overland Corner
• Land Tenure: Certificate of Title / Crown Record / Crown Lease
• Wetland Size: 84.8 km
• Normal Pool Level: +9.8 mAHD

The entire SA River Murray Channel is a designated Icon Site under The Living Murray Initiative in recognition of its ecological and cultural significance.

Plant functional groups include[5]:

• Terrestrial dry
• Terrestrial damp
• FloodplainAmphibious fluctuation tolerator – low growingAmphibious fluctuation tolerator – emergent
• Amphibious fluctuation tolerator – woody
• Amphibious fluctuation responder - plastic
• Amphibious fluctuation responder – floating
• Perennial – emergent
• Submerged – k selected (completely water-dependent species requiring inundation duration of greater than 6 months)
• Submerged – r selected (those that colonise recently flooded areas)

The upper 16km of Weir Pool 3 contains fast-flowing (lotic) channel habitat supporting large-bodied fish including golden perch (Macquaria ambigua), the critically endangered silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus) and the vulnerable Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii), alongside other biota dependent on lotic conditions. This reach is significant due to the scarcity of this type of lotic habitat within the SA River Murray channel[6]. Hollow-bearing river red gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) along the main river channel provide a corridor for movement and nesting habitat for regent parrots[7] (Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides), which are listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act 1995 (Cth). Stable water levels result in simple river red woodlands dominated by trees of only a few age groups in narrow bands with low levels of understorey diversity and cover.

• Berri Barmera Council
• Berri Barmera Landcare
• Central Irrigation Trust
• Commonwealth Environment Water Office (CEWO)
• Gerard Aboriginal Community
• 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
• Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA)

1. Muller, K.L and Creeper, N.L. 2020. Interim Weir Pool Manipulation Operations Plan for Locks 6 to 1. Part Two: Operating Plan for Locks 6 to 1. A report for Department of Environment and Water, Government of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000.
2. MDBA https://www.mdba.gov.au/water-management/infrastructure/weirs-locks. Accessed 1 December 2020.
3. Barrett. J. and Mallen-Cooper, M. 2006. The Murray River's ‘Sea to Hume Dam’ fish passage program: Progress to date and lessons learned. Ecological Management & Restoration Volume 7, Issue 3
4. URS 2014. Final Report River Murray Lock and Weir no’s 1 to 10
5. Denny, M.L., Creeper, N.L. & Gilmore, K.L. (2021). Weir pool management framework: Ecological conceptual models, DEW Technical report 2021, Government of South Australia, Department for Environment and Water, Adelaide.
6. Bice, C. M. et al. 2017. Putting the “river” back into the lower River Murray: quantifying the hydraulic impact of river regulation to guide ecological restoration. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia
7. Harper, M.J. 2020. Maximise Water Delivery for Regent Parrot Outcomes - Management Framework Prepared by the South Australian Regent Parrot Recovery Team for the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office, Australian Department of the Environment and Energy.

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.