Angas Bremer Home
Angas Bremer History
Code of Practice
Angas Bremer EMS
Fullstop
Resource Allocation Planning
Angas Bremer Geophysics
Annual Reporting
Angas Bremer Maps
Links
Contacts

Projects

 

The Angas Bremer Floodplain study project

The first grapes at Langhorne Creek were planted by Frank Potts in about 1860. They were planted on the deep, alluvial floodplain soils beside the ephemeral Angas and Bremer Rivers. These locations were chosen because, following the natural winter flood events, the grapes started their growing season with a deep soil profile that was full of water. Additional irrigation water was not needed.

A network of earth banks was gradually expanded to control which areas were flooded and the time for which the water was ponded.

In 1886 the first adjustable weir was built, temporarily to block flow in the Bremer River and to cause the river to flood even when the winter flow was too low to cause a natural flood.

The environmental effects of these traditional practices are being investigated by the Floodplain study.  This project is

  1. mapping the boundary of each flood event and

  2. estimating the volume of water that drains to the water-table below each flood.

The volume of drainage water is being estimated by

  1. measuring and recording the soil-moisture every 15 minutes at each 0.5m depth interval down to the 6 metre deep water-table at each of 8 sites and

  1. measuring and recording well water-levels every 15 minutes at each of 12 shallow wells into the water-table aquifer and at 12 deeper wells into the confined aquifer.

The report on the data that has been collected between November 2002 and January 2005 can be downloaded below. To reduce each download to a manageable size, the report has been divided into two sections plus 7 Appendices.

Angas Bremer Flood Report - Part 1 (1Mb)
Angas Bremer Flood Report - Part 2 (484 Kb)
Appendix A1 (1Mb)
Appendix A2 (1.2Mb)
Appendix B1 (Pt 1) (992Kb)
Appendix B1 (Pt 2) (836Kb)
Appendix B2 (556Kb)
Appendix B3 (528Kb)
Appendix B4 (532Kb)

The Angas Bremer Map Layers CD

Since 1970 a large amount of data has been collected in the Angas Bremer district.

The Angas Bremer Water Management Committee is working to ensure that this data is used and that:

•  everyone knows that this data has been collected

•  all of the data is easily accessible

•  time and dollars are not wasted in the future, by duplicating data-collection work that has already been done.

The tools that are being used to make the data available include:

•  The documents in “The Angas Bremer Land and Water Management Plan” - a large loose-leaf folder that has been provided to every irrigator

•  The website www.angasbremerwater.org.au

•  The Angas Bremer Map Layers CD

The Angas Bremer Soils book

ABsoilBkDistrib

he Angas Bremer Soils book provides a district soil-map and detailed information about the local soils. For each of 25 typical soils, the book provides a 4-page data-sheet that includes a large coloured photo of the wall of a two-metre deep soil pit. Every soil-layer is described and the laboratory results from 15 chemical analyses are tabled, compared with target values and interpreted, for each layer.

The book is designed to help you to interpret what you are seeing in a soil profile that is exposed when you dig a soil pit. Step 1: While you stand in your pit and look at the soil, open this book to page 21. Step 2: Compare your soil profile with each of the 25 soil photos and record the soil-number of each photo that looks similar to your profile. Step 3: Turn to the data-sheet for each of the recorded soil numbers and decide which data-sheet most closely describes your soil. Step 4: Use the tables and the interpretations of Laboratory data to guide your decisions about which chemical analyses you will have done for your soil-profile. Note that the lower the soil-number, the smaller the investment that is likely to be needed into pre-planting activities. With any of the soils numbered from 18 to 25, over a long period (decades), the profit from growing irrigated wine-grapes is likely to be small or negative for the reasons that are outlined in the “Management” section of each of the data-sheets.

The “Management” section for each soil describes (1) any potential soil problems (2) pre-planting actions that can be taken to tackle those problems and (3) how best to manage the soil after planting.

This June 2007 version of the Angas Bremer Soils book replaces the October 2005 DRAFT version that was provided, in electronic form, on the interactive “Angas Bremer Map Layers” computer compact disc.

This updated version is being distributed:

  1. from the Angas Bremer web-site www.angasbremerwater.org.au

  2. as a 126-page, full-colour, spiral-bound book and

  3. on a new computer disc

The Angas Bremer Soils book is provided by the Angas Bremer Water Management Committee. It was developed and funded by the Government of South Australia (David Maschmedt, Primary Industries and Resources SA and Tony Thomson, Department of Water Land and Biodiversity Conservation) and a grant from the River Murray Catchment Water Management Board (now the SA Murray Darling Basin Natural Resource Management Board). The Soils book is part of Module 2 of the Angas Bremer Preliminary Land and Water Management Plan.

To reduce each file to a size that can be downloaded even without broadband, the book has been divided into the following 4 pdf files (Adobe 5) :

Introduction and Soil 1 (822kB)

Soils 2 to 9 ( 770kB)

Soils 10 to 17 (765kB)

Soils 18 to 25 ( 693kB)

Click below to download the document “Describing and interpreting Soil Profiles” :

Soil Profiles (294kB)

The Map Layers

The Angas Bremer Map Layers CD provides more than 100 map layers plus the Geographic Information System software (“Arc Reader” and “Image Viewer”) that is used to manipulate the map layers. Any person who uses the CD can design, view and print
their own maps. They can activate any chosen combination of map layers and they can choose the boundary of the piece of land to be mapped.

The location of the boundaries of the colouring for each of the Risk layers is only approximate. All of the wording for each Risk layer must be read with care. Site investigation work, including digging soil pits, is the only way to determine whether any potential problem is present at any location. Problems will be present at only some locations within the areas coloured as being at higher risk. Problems will also be present at some locations in the areas where the risk is indicated to be lower.

The first version of this CD is labelled DRAFT because it is incomplete. The Angas Bremer Water Management Committee seeks your comments advising of any errors and of how the CD can be made more useful.

Most versions of Windows will enable you to view and to print all the District Maps and the Soils Documents from this CD.

To design your own maps using this CD requires Windows 2000, Windows NT or Windows XP. Your own maps cannot be made using Windows 98 or earlier versions of Windows.

Unfortunately, because the latest “Service pack 2” for Windows XP is designed to combat viruses, it will not allow installation of the Geographic Information System software from this CD.

If this CD will not operate on your computer, please work with a friend or with a neighbour. Alternatively, please contact Lian Jaen sch a t the Langhorne Creek Wine Industry Council on 8537-3362 or on 0438 600 121 . Lian will guide you in using the software on the office computer at the Langhorne Creek Memorial Hall.

How to use the CD

Before inserting the Angas Bremer Map Layers CD into your computer, please close all other programs.

Open the CD drawer of the computer, insert the Angas Bremer Map Layers CD and close the drawer.

The CD should auto-run and the “Conditions of Use” should be displayed.

When you click to agree to the Conditions of Use, the “Welcome” screen should be displayed.

If auto-run does not automatically open the Welcome screen, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the file welcome.pdf on the CD and then double click to open it.

If Adobe Acrobat is not already installed on your computer, you will need to load it from this CD by using Windows Explorer to navigate to software/acrobat/pc and then double clicking on the file acrobat4.exe

After loading Adobe Acrobat, open and close the CD drawer and repeat the steps to display the Welcome screen.

At the Welcome screen, clicking on “Fit page” (the icon that is located towards the top left and that looks like a full-page) will display the total width and the total height of the Welcome screen on your computer screen.

Further Information

For further information about the Angas Bremer Map Layers CD please contact Tony Thomson 08 8463 6855.

 

Disclaimer: as stated on the CD, the Angas Bremer Water Management Committee and the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, its employees and servants do not warrant or make any representation regarding the use, or results from use of the information contained on the CD as to its correctness, accuracy, currency or otherwise. The Angas Bremer Water Management Committee and the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, its employees and servants expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or advice contained on the CD.