Lake Torrens
(Ngarndamukia)
Stuart Creek with Lake Torrens in the background
Lake Torrens (Ngarndamukia) is located in South Australia
Lake Torrens (Ngarndamukia)
Lake Torrens
(Ngarndamukia)
Location in South Australia
LocationSouth Australia
Coordinates31°02′40″S 137°51′35″E / 31.04444°S 137.85972°E / -31.04444; 137.85972
TypeSalt lake
Primary outflowsPirie–Torrens corridor
Basin countriesAustralia
DesignationLake Torrens National Park
Max. length250 km (160 mi)[1]
Max. width30 km (19 mi)
Surface area5,745 km2 (2,218 sq mi)[2]
Max. depth1 m (3.3 ft)[3]
Surface elevation30 m (98 ft)[4]

Lake Torrens (Kuyani: Ngarndamukia) is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.

Islands on the lake include Andamooka Island and Murdie Island, both near the western shore; Trimmer Inlet runs between Andamooka Island and the shore, and Carrapateena Arm is an arm extending westwards south of Murdie Island.

Description

Lake Torrens lies between the Arcoona Plateau to the west and the Flinders Ranges to the east, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) north of Port Augusta and about 345 kilometres (214 mi) north of the Adelaide city centre. The lake is approximately 30 metres (98 ft) above sea level,[4] with a maximum depth of 1 m.[3] It is located within the boundaries of Lake Torrens National Park.[5]

Lake Torrens stretches approximately 250 kilometres (155 mi) in length[1] and 30 kilometres (19 mi) in average width. It is Australia's second largest lake when filled with water[1] and encompasses an area of 5,745 square kilometres (2,218 sq mi).[2][6]

Usually the Lake Torrens catchment is an endorheic basin, having no outflow of water to the ocean.

Andamooka Island is the largest of several islands, lying along the western shore.[7] It is a pastoral property, but an important area for birds such as the red-capped plover and cinnamon quail-thrush, and other islands host banded stilts and others.[8] Murdie Island lies just south of Andamooka, its name of either Barngarla or Kuyani origin and identified in the 1850s. Its name, along with Carrapateena, reflect "the earliest known and identifiable cultural associations to Lake Torrens", according to a 2016 court judgement.[9] Other geographic features include Carrapateena Inlet (also called Carrapateena Arm) and Trimmer Inlet.[10][11]

History

Approximately 35,000 years ago, the lake water was fresh to brackish, but has become increasingly saline since.[2]

In a 2016 case in the Supreme Court of South Australia, the lake was noted as an sacred site and ownership was contested by three claimant groups: the Kokatha, Adnyamathanha/Kuyani and Barngarla peoples. The court ruled[12] that none of the groups would be awarded native title to the area, as although all three groups had 'significant and credible spiritual connection to parts of Lake Torrens' it was not possible to 'prioritise one set of spiritual beliefs over the other'. In 2020, mine exploration licences covered part of the lake with prospecting for minerals underway[13] The first European to see the lake was Edward Eyre in 1839, who spotted the salt bed from Mount Arden at the head of the Spencer Gulf.[14]

Eyre named the lake after Colonel Robert Torrens[15][14] who was one of the founders of the colony of South Australia. However the Kuyani people had long called the lake Ngarndamukia, meaning "shower of rain".[13]

The lake filled in 1897 and again in April 1989.[2] The 1989 filling resulted in the lake outflowing through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf, suggesting it likely did so in 1897 as well. It has a thin salt crust with red-brown clays beneath, which are soft and boggy. The area around the lake is sparsely vegetated with samphire, saltbush and bluebush.[1]

In April 2013, the full extent of Lake Torrens was gazetted by the Government of South Australia as a locality with the name Lake Torrens.[16][17]

Protected area status

South Australian government

The full extent of Lake Torrens has been protected as a national park under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 since 1991.[18][19]

Non-statutory arrangements

Lake Torrens is part of an area known as the Inland Saline Lakes which has been listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia since at least 1995.[20][21]

Lake Torrens has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area known as the Lake Torrens Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supported up to 100,000 breeding banded stilts during the major filling event of 1989.[22] It may occasionally support over 1% of the world population of red-capped plovers. Cinnamon quail-thrushes are also common in the IBA.[23]

Exploratory drilling for minerals

In April 2017 Kelaray, a subsidiary of mining company Argonaut Resources, secured native title permission to do exploratory drilling for iron, copper and gold under the lake, intending to work with traditional owners to “preserve and protect” important sites. The area was drilled in 2007 to 2008 without obtaining permission of the Kokatha people, who then held native title (see History, above).[24] In February 2018, the South Australian Environment, Resources and Development (ERD) Court granted authority to enter and undertake mining operations (exploration) within those parts of the western area of the lake defined in an application by Argonaut.[25] Some drilling was done in 2019, but was paused pending a technical review relating to the aquifer below the lake.[26] In September 2020, representatives of the local Kuyani and Kokatha people raised concerns about further drilling proposals.[13]

In January 2021, the state government under Steven Marshall granted permission to Kelaray to conduct drilling on the lake,[27] over an area including Murdie Island, part of Andamooka Island, and part of Carrapateena Arm,[11][25] after they had made an application under Section 23 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988, "to damage, disturb or interfere with any Aboriginal sites, objects or remains". Mitigation strategies to protect the environment include purpose-built mats which would be used on the lake's surface to "protect the salt crust" from vehicles travelling over it, and the company intends to consult regularly with Aboriginal representatives. However Kuyani woman Regina McKenzie expressed concerns that her people were not consulted and no cultural assessments were made.[27] The work, scheduled to begin in 2021, would "target iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) copper mineralisation", similar to mines at Olympic Dam and Carrapateena mines.[28] It has been called the Murdie project in Argonaut's documentation.[25][11]

Drilling was set to start from 15 March 2021, despite recommendations against doing so being provided to Marshall (who is also Aboriginal Affairs minister) by the state-government-appointed Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation and the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee (SAHC[29]) and Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (part of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet[30]). 20 semi-trailer trucks delivered accommodation units and equipment to Murdie Island in preparation.[31] In the same week, the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation launched legal action to put a stop to the drilling, on the grounds that it is "one of the most significant cultural sites in South Australia".[32]

In August 2022, the Chief Justice of South Australia, Chris Kourakis, overturned Marshall's decision, citing concerns that Kelaray's heritage plan and procedures would "substantially detract" from the state’s Aboriginal heritage laws.[33][34]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Lake Torrens National Park". Explore Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 John K. Warren (12 June 2006). Evaporites:Sediments, Resources and Hydrocarbons: Sediments, Resources, and Hydrocarbons. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 201. ISBN 9783540323440.
  3. 1 2 "Lake Torrens, Australia - 3539.200sq km - Facts, Map". www.lakepedia.com. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 Barker, McCaskill & Ward, p.173, 1995
  5. ↑ "Lake Torrens National Park". Government of South Australia. 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Largest Waterbodies". Geoscience Australia. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Andamooka Island". Google Maps. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "BirdLife Data Zone". BirdLife Data Zone. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Mansfield, J. (9 August 2016). "Lake Torrens Overlap Proceedings (No 3) [2016] FCA 899" (Document). Federal Court of Australia. p. 87.
  10. ↑ "Carrapateena Arm". Google Maps. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 "Application for authorisation under the Aboriginal Heritage Act1988(SA): Kelaray Pty Ltd–Lake Torrens Murdie Exploration Program" (PDF). Consultation Information Package. 2020.
  12. ↑ Lake Torrens Overlap Proceedings (No 3) [2016] FCA 899, AustLii (Supreme Court of South Australia 9 August 2016)
  13. 1 2 3 Lysaght, Gary-Jon (27 September 2020). "Indigenous sacred site Lake Torrens faces exploratory drilling for resources". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  14. 1 2 Painter, Alison. "1 May 1839 Edward John Eyre". Professional Historians Association—South Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  15. ↑ PlaceNames Online - South Australian State Gazetteer Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine Site is a searchable database. Accessed 3 April 2012.
  16. ↑ "Geographical Names Act 1991 Notice to Create Boundaries of Places and Alter Boundaries of Places" (PDF). The South Australian Government Gazette. South Australian Government. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  17. ↑ Rack Plan 951 - Proposed Locality Boundaries for Pastoral Areas (PDF) (Map). South Australian Government. 31 October 2012. Rack Plan 951. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  18. ↑ "Protected Areas Information System - reserve list (as of 25 November 2014)" (PDF). Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Protected Areas of South Australia September (Map) 2014 Edition" (PDF). Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  20. ↑ Eyles, Kathy; Larmour, Geoff; Young, Sarah; Australia. Environment Australia; Natural Heritage Trust (Australia). National Wetlands Program (2001), A Directory of important wetlands in Australia (PDF) (3rd ed.), Environment Australia, pp. 1, 2 & 78, ISBN 978-0-642-54721-7
  21. ↑ "Results of search for "Inland Saline Lakes - SA065"". Commonwealth of Australia, Department of the Environment. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  22. ↑ "IBA: Lake Torrens". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  23. ↑ "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake Torrens". BirdLife International. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  24. ↑ Castello, Renato (3 April 2017). "Argonaut get Torrens mining go ahead". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  25. 1 2 3 Arognaut Resources NL (4 January 2021). Murdie Project: Final Drilling Authorisation Granted (Report). ASX Announcement. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  26. ↑ "Torrens". Aeris Resources. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  27. 1 2 Lysaght, Gary-Jon (5 January 2021). "SA Government approves drilling on sacred Lake Torrens, despite opposition from Aboriginal groups". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  28. ↑ "SA Government approves application by Kelaray under the AHA". National Resources Review. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  29. ↑ "State Aboriginal Heritage Committee". Department of the Premier and Cabinet. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  30. ↑ "Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation". Department of the Premier and Cabinet. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  31. ↑ Smith, Douglas (16 March 2021). "Mining on sacred site set to start this week, against wishes of Traditional Owners". NITV. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  32. ↑ Lysaght, Gary-Jon (17 March 2021). "Sacred Lake Torrens at centre of legal battle over Argonaut Resources drilling proposal". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  33. ↑ Richards, Stephanie (25 August 2022). "Chief Justice overturns drilling approval at Aboriginal heritage site". InDaily. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  34. ↑ Ward, Nicholas (26 August 2022). "Supreme Court overturns miner's authorisation to drill at Lake Torrens". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
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