Verran Tanks Conservation Park

Verran Tanks Conservation Park
South Australia
Verran Tanks Conservation Park
Nearest town or city Verran.
Coordinates 33°50′07″S 136°13′52″E / 33.8354°S 136.2311°E / -33.8354; 136.2311Coordinates: 33°50′07″S 136°13′52″E / 33.8354°S 136.2311°E / -33.8354; 136.2311
Established 28 July 1983 (1983-07-28)[1]
Area 1.19 km2 (0.5 sq mi)[1]
Managing authorities Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources
Footnotes Coordinates[2]
Nearest town[3]
Managing authority[1]
See also Protected areas of South Australia

Verran Tanks Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia, located on the Eyre Peninsula in the gazetted locality of Verran about 105 kilometres (65 mi) north of Port Lincoln and about 55 kilometres (34 mi) south-east of Lock.[4][3]. It is approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the west of the Verran railway siding.

When the Hundred of Verran was first surveyed from July to September 1908, it was known that the first settlers would need a reliable supply of water, as there was no piped water available to the area at the time. This site was chosen as a good location to build a water harvesting and storage point due to its sloping topography. Other sites earmarked for water collection were the Verran Dam (8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of the Verran Tank, along the Blue Range, built in 1909), and 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) further south was another site which became the Railway Dam, after the Port Lincoln to Darke Peak railway line was opened in 1913.

The Sheoak Hill Tank[5] as it was also known, was constructed prior to the allocation of the blocks to the new settlers, which began 27 January 1909. The materials for the dam were carted to the site by camel team. The tank was built on the northwest side of the hill. A large hole was dug for it, and much of the stone removed from the hole was used in the construction of the water run pathways and walls, as well as for the thick walls of the tank. Water is channeled down the slope into a 27 cubic metres (950 cu ft) cement-lined sediment collection tank, and then into the tank, which is also lined with cement and mostly underground. If the tank filled up, the overflow was channeled out a side passage from the sediment tank. The tank was completed with a corrugated iron roof, and a steel ladder for the residents to access the water. It measures approximately 12 metres (39 ft) in diameter, and is 6 metres (20 ft) deep, giving it a capacity of 678,000 litres (149,000 imp gal; 179,000 US gal).

The tank was a reliable source of water for the early settlers, and saw much use in the early days. Water carting was a constant job, and as horses were used to pull water tanks to the site, a galvanised iron water trough was left at the site to water the horses after their long trek up the hill. The use of the tank began to decline in 1930 when piped water from the Todd Reservoir finally reached the southern area of the hundred, and another pipeline was laid from Verran heading southwest in 1964, servicing the eastern and central area of the hundred.

With its lack of use, the tank was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. The water runs no longer catch much water, and while the tank is still structurally sound, its roof has fallen in. As of 2017 the sediment tank still holds water, but there is none in the tank. The original tracks through the scrub that the early settlers used to access the tank from the west, north and south, can still be seen seen, but are overgrown. The main track in from the southeast can still be accessed by 4wd.

It was proclaimed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 in 1983 to “conserve remnant vegetation” on land all in Section 71 of the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Verran and which was previously gazetted as a water reserve. The proclamation excluded “access under state mining legislation.”[4] Its name is derived from a water storage facility known as the “Verran Tank.”[3]

As of 2007, the Verran Tanks Conservation Park was reported as being “dominated by mallee and shrubland” and included the following plant associations and species of conservation concern. A “mallee community” dominated by Eucalyptus peninsularis considered to be “a state endangered ecosystem” was present in the conservation park. Four species which were described as being “state rare species” have also been recorded in the conservation park: six-nerve spine-bush (Acacia hexaneura), Levenhookia stipitata, the rasp daisy-bush (Olearia picridifolia) and the tawny leek-orchid (Prasophyllum constrictum).[4]

As of 2007, there was no access for visitors into the interior of the conservation park, nor were there plans to create such access.[4]

The conservation park is classified as an IUCN Category III protected area.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Protected Areas Information System - reserve list (as of 11 July 2016)" (PDF). Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Terrestrial Protected Areas of South Australia (see 'DETAIL' tab)". CAPAD 2014. Australian Government, Department of the Environment (DoE). 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Search result(s) for Verran Tanks Conservation Park (Record No. SA0013123) with the following layers being selected - “Parcel labels”, "Suburbs and Localities", "Place names (gazetteer)" and “Road labels”". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 South Australia. Department for Environment and Heritage (2007), Mallee parks of the central Eyre Peninsula: management plan (PDF), Dept. for Environment and Heritage, pp. 3, 11– 15 and 23, ISBN 978-1-921238-81-9
  5. ↑ Wharminda History Committee (1974). Wharminda History 1909-1974. Eyre Peninsula Tribune. p. 8.
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