__NOTOC__ Chowilla Regional Reserve is protected area in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

located in the gazetted

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

of Chowilla about north-east of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The reserve was proclaimed on 8 April 1993 in conjunction with the Chowilla Game Reserve and covers an area of . "It protects and conserves a semi-arid environment adjacent to the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

. The dominant land uses of the reserve are pastoral production, conservation of natural and historic features and tourism/recreation." The reserve is also classified as a Category VI protected area by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN). It is situated on the Chowilla floodplain, which is protected as part of the Riverland Ramsar site, designated by the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

as a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

of international importance. The area includes several lakes and

areas which provide habitat for native

flora and fauna In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi ...

, but since the area has been affected by drought and the use of water from the Murray regulated, much of the plain has remained dry for long periods.

Lake Limbra A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, situated at the northern end of the reserve, is regarded as a

sacred site Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...

by the local

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, who used it as a

burial site Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

. The lake's geographical location on the eastern end of the floodplain as well as its low-lying altitude meant that in the past, it was first to be filed during flood events. In March 2021, a three-month project to pump water into Lake Limbra from the Murray River was undertaken by the state

Department for Environment and Water The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) is a department of the Government of South Australia. Created on 1 July 2012 by the merger of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department for Water as the Department of ...

SA Water SA Water is a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of South Australia. History SA Water was established by the proclamation of the ''South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994'' on 1 July 1995. Prior to this its predec ...

and a group of

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

people, using a system of

water pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they ...

s and cranes. By June, much wildlife was observed in and around the lake, including wetland birds such as ducks, and also shield shrimp, a tiny

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

adapted to living in desert areas and was able to cope with periodic drying of muddy lakes.

References

External links

Chowilla Game Reserve and Regional ReserveEntry for Chowilla Regional Reserve on protected planet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowilla Regional Reserve Regional reserves of South Australia Protected areas established in 1993

See also

References

External links