Draft Gawler River Stormwater Management Plan review

Stormwater management

Consultation is open Monday 14 April to Sunday 11 May 2025.

What we are seeking your feedback on

Stormwater is rain that can’t be soaked up by the ground, so gets carried away by drains and pipes or flows across the land to natural waterways, slowly making its way to the ocean. It is important that we manage stormwater as it can help to reduce the risks to homes and businesses from flood damage. It can also provide opportunities for using the stormwater and for improving water quality by filtering out pollutants picked up from roads, lawns and other urban areas.

Stormwater management plan

A stormwater management plan (or SMP) is a planning document which looks at how much rainfall occurs in a given area, where it tends to fall and how it travels once it is on the ground. It then uses this information to recommend flood mitigation projects which provide a coordinated approach to long-term stormwater management across the whole area covered. The SMP does not give a green light to any of the projects outlined or provide a way to fund the work. It also does not look at small, localised issues such as water pooling on a road, rather it looks at the impacts of large rain events where there is the chance of significant damage.

The Gawler River SMP

The Gawler River SMP looks at the stretch of the Gawler River between where the North and South Para Rivers meet north of Gawler, down to where it meets the Gulf of St Vincent at Port Gawler. As the river flows through six Council areas, it has been commissioned by the Gawler River Floodplain Management Authority (GRFMA) who represent those six Councils – Adelaide Plains, Adelaide Hills, Barossa, City of Playford, Light Regional and Town of Gawler. Although the Councils will provide input into planning, any projects undertaken as a result of this SMP will be the responsibility of the GRFMA and not the individual Councils.

GRFMA and consultants Water Technology have identified how water flows into and along the river, what lives in and around the water and what cultural heritage and infrastructure considerations there are for managing waterflow.

All of this information has been used to identify a list of potential works which should be considered in order to reduce the risks of damage to people and property in this area from stormwater.

What we are asking the community to do

The draft SMP and appendices can be viewed in the Project Document Library on this page. There is also a Summary document which outlines the key elements of the plan to help you navigate the information.

Once you have read the SMP and/or the summary document, we would like to know:

• Do think all the main stormwater issues for the Gawler River have been considered (noting that there are separate plans for each Council area, this is just for the river)?
• Which of the proposed projects do you think should be prioritised and why?
• Do you have any other feedback on the SMP that you would like noting?
• Would you be interested in hearing more about the various projects as they go through the planning and implementation phases?

Any feedback will be considered by the GRFMA prior to final approval of the SMP.

Please refer to the 'Provide your feedback' section on this page for more information.