Coasts & Estuaries - City of Port Adelaide Enfield - SA.Gov.au

Coast & EstuariesCoast & EstuariesBarker Inlet & Port Adelaide RiverIntroductionThe Coastal and Marine Environment is a significant feature of the Council area. The coastal regioncan be roughly divided into two areas, the Port Adelaide River coastline (Barker Inlet and PortAdelaide River Estuary) and the beach coastline. Map 22 (page 165) shows an aerial photograph ofthe features of the coastal environment.The Barker Inlet and Port Adelaide River Estuary is the largest tidal inlet in Gulf St Vincent and itsprotected waters provide Adelaide and South Australia with major port facilities. It is highly significantto the State in ecological, cultural and economic terms. The Barker Inlet comprises of the coastalestuary of the Port Adelaide River, with two islands (Torrens Island and Garden Island). The Portwaterways consist of the Port Adelaide River, North Arm, North Arm Creek, Angas Inlet and BarkerInlet.Estuaries such as the Port Adelaide River and Barker Inlet are semi-enclosed bodies of water, wherethe sea begins to mix with urban land runoff, changing salinity gradients due to tidal exchanges.Estuaries are a particularly sensitive part of marine and coastal environments. They act as transitionzones between the land and the sea, where fresh and salt water meet and mix. Due to this processtidal areas also act as filters and channels for the pollutants and nutrients that run off the land and intothe marine environment (DEH 2006).The Barker Inlet and St Kilda wetlands have been identified as wetlands of national importance(Australian Nature Conservation Agency 1996) and encompass the coastal waters, fringingmangroves, tidal creeks and adjoining wetlands and saltfields from St Kilda to Outer Harbor.The area is rich in history as a working port, and is also a popular recreation location. Over the yearsthe area has been host to a number of large industries including coal handling facilities, two electricitygenerating plants (Torrens Island and Pelican Point), cement works, salt harvesting, a sugar refinery,boat building facilities, major fuel storage depots, major sewage treatment plants (Bolivar and PortAdelaide), chemical plants and rubbish dumps.Recent projects in the area include new residential and commercial development in the inner portarea, the Port Adelaide River Expressway including construction of a new bridge over the River, theLefevre Transport Corridor upgrade, and new marinas at Largs North and the Inner Port area.(Barker Inlet Port Estuary Committee (BIPEC), http://www.bipec.on.net/about.html)The seagrass and mangrove ecosystems of the Gulf St Vincent are of enormous ecological andeconomic importance, providing a basis for much of the region’s commercial and recreationalfisheries. Mangroves and shallow water seagrasses support a variety of juvenile fish and crustaceanspecies. The Barker Inlet system is home to a range of uncommon marine fauna including the pygmysquid (Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board 2006).The Port Adelaide River and Barker Inlet is a marine environment, not a freshwater system.Freshwater flows into the Inlet from a range of stormwater catchments; the water quality from thesecatchments is discussed in the chapter on Inland Waters.132