Bundaleer Reservoir

Where is it?: Bundaleer Reservoir is off the Goyder Highway, c. 12km E of Gulnare.

Property summary: Total area c. 1275 hectares. Hundred of Bundaleer – Pieces 98, 102, 103 (Filed Plan No. 199888); Hundred of Reynolds – Allotment 10 (Deposited Plan No. 12564)

Landscape Management Region: Northern and Yorke

History: The Bundaleer Waterworks System was originally proposed in the early 1890s¹ as an additional source of supply to the Beetaloo System. It took almost 8 years for the final approval for construction to pass through various Government departments and construction finally started in 1898^{2, 3}. The construction of the reservoir and associated works was completed in October 1903⁴.

The Bundaleer scheme was designed to provide water for the towns of Snowtown, Redhill, Brinkworth, Narridy, Port Wakefield and the York Peninsula.

The actual reservoir capacity is 6370 Ml and is a conventional earthen gravity dam, fed by Bundaleer, Baderloo, Yakilo and Freshwater Creeks through 26 kilometers of concrete lined channels.

Habitat: Much of the area is open land but there has been a considerable amount of revegetation.  

Total Species Recorded to Date: 61 (non-passerines 37, passerines 24)

Common Species: Blue-billed Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Musk Duck, Australian Pelican, Willie Wagtail

Less Common Species: Great Crested Grebe, Black-tailed Nativehen, Pied Stilt, White-winged Triller

More information: Reservoirs SA

References
 ¹ House of Assembly. Tuesday, November 15. Bundaleer Reservoir. The Adelaide Observer XLIX (II) (2,668): 37. (19 November 1892) 

 ² Bundaleer Water District. The South Australian Government Gazette. 16: 696. (4 August 1898).  

 ³ Starting Bundaleer Reservoir. The South Australian Register LXIII (16,196): 4. (10 October 1898) 

 ⁴ A Big Reticulation Scheme. The Bundaleer Reservoir. The Advertiser XLVI (14,040): 6. (17 October 1903) 

Updated: 8/07/2022