Low flows
The low flow rate was identified by assessing the flow of water required to turn over the entire volume of water in an average permanent pool in five days. Five days was selected as this was a reasonable approximation of the flow duration of a pulse flow in response to a large summer storm based on the observed data. Pool volumes were estimated using a simple ellipsoid formula with length and width estimated from aerial imagery and depth based on data collected during previous surveys (unpub. data, Schmarr et al., 2014). The PWRA was divided into four areas based on understanding of the runoff generation and watercourse characteristics across the landscape as well as the location of key monitoring stations (Penrice for the Flaxman and Yaldara for the Barossa) (Hancock et al., 2014). The flow rate at the end of each of these areas was defined based on the flow rate required to turn over pools in the upstream area. Each of the individual management zones in each area were given a flow rate based on its proportion of the total catchment.