{"id":"natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005","name":"Natural Resources Management (Western Mount Lofty Ranges—Prescribed Wells Area) Regulations 2005","slug":"natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":236229,"registerId":"sa-natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Natural Resources Management (Western Mount Lofty Ranges—Prescribed Wells Area) Regulations 2005","content":"South Australia\nNatural Resources Management (Western Mount Lofty Ranges—Prescribed Wells Area) Regulations 2005\nunder the Natural Resources Management Act 2004\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tCommencement\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tDeclaration of prescribed wells\n5\tEstablishment and prescribed periods\n6\tOperation of section 124(4)\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Natural Resources Management (Western Mount Lofty Ranges—Prescribed Wells Area) Regulations 2005.\n2—Commencement\nThese regulations come into operation on the day on which they are made.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the Natural Resources Management Act 2004;\nWestern Mount Lofty Ranges Prescribed Wells Area means the area bounded by the bold red line in GRO Plan No 242/2004.\n4—Declaration of prescribed wells\nWells situated in the Western Mount Lofty Ranges Prescribed Wells Area and wells drilled in the area after the commencement of these regulations are declared to be prescribed wells.\n5—Establishment and prescribed periods\n\t(1)\tThe establishment period in relation to the prescribed wells declared by regulation 4 commenced on 1 July 2001 and ended at the commencement of the prescribed period (14 October 2004).\n\t(2)\tThe prescribed period in relation to the prescribed wells declared by regulation 4 commenced on 14 October 2004 and will end on 31 December 2008.\n6—Operation of section 124(4)\nPursuant to section 124(5) of the Act, the operation of section 124(4) of the Act is excluded in relation to the prescribed wells declared under regulation 4.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal regulations\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2005\n228\nGazette 20.10.2005 p3793\n20.10.2005: r 2 \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not available. The title suggests a narrowly targeted instrument focused specifically on groundwater management in a defined geographic area (Western Mount Lofty Ranges), which is consistent with the typical, limited scope of prescribed area regulations under natural resources management frameworks."},"complexity_factors":["The actual legislative text was not retrievable — only a website error page was provided, severely limiting analysis","Regulations of this type typically involve geographic boundary definitions which can be technically complex","Water licensing and extraction limit frameworks can involve cross-referencing with parent Acts and other regulations","Based on title alone, complexity cannot be fully assessed — score reflects the limited information available rather than the regulation's true complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation under the Natural Resources Management Act governs the Western Mount Lofty Ranges Prescribed Wells Area by placing legal controls on groundwater bores to manage and protect underground water supplies. It matters to landowners, farmers, developers and water authorities in the region because it determines who can use bores and how groundwater is conserved and protected from overuse or contamination. For exact legal requirements, consult the SA legislation site or the Department for Environment and Water."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation maintains its original narrow scope. It was clearly designed as a specific, time-limited regulatory instrument to prescribe wells in a defined geographic area under the Natural Resources Management Act 2004. The regulations do not appear to have expanded beyond this original purpose — they contain no additional regulatory burdens, extended definitions, or substantive provisions beyond what is necessary to declare the prescribed area, set the time periods, and exclude the operation of one section of the parent Act."},"complexity_factors":["Very short: only 6 substantive regulations plus title and commencement provisions","Only 2 defined terms in the interpretation section ('Act' and 'Western Mount Lofty Ranges Prescribed Wells Area')","No nested exceptions or conditional logic — straightforward declaratory style","Single cross-reference to parent Act (section 124) with minimal technical operation","Geographic scope defined by external map reference rather than complex coordinate descriptions","Temporal provisions are simple date ranges with clear start and end points"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese regulations create special water management rules for a specific area in South Australia — the **Western Mount Lofty Ranges**. They \"prescribe\" (officially designate) all water wells in this area as **prescribed wells**, which brings them under stricter government control.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **Landowners and water users** in the Western Mount Lofty Ranges who have wells or plan to drill new ones\n- **The state government** (specifically the natural resources management authority), which gains powers to regulate water extraction in this area\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nWhen a well becomes a \"prescribed well,\" it means:\n- You generally need a **licence or permit** to take water (under the parent Natural Resources Management Act 2004)\n- The government can monitor and limit water use to prevent over-extraction\n- There are rules about how close new wells can be to existing ones\n\n**Key details:**\n- The area covered is exactly what's shown on **GRO Plan No 242/2004** (a government map with a bold red boundary line)\n- The regulations apply to **existing wells** and any **new wells drilled** after these rules started\n- The rules were backdated: the \"establishment period\" ran from **1 July 2001 to 14 October 2004**, and the main \"prescribed period\" ran from **14 October 2004 to 31 December 2008**\n- **Section 124(4) of the Act is switched off** for these wells — this appears to be a technical provision that normally gives certain rights to well owners, but has been excluded here\n\nIn short: this is a time-limited, geographically-specific water control measure to manage groundwater resources in the Adelaide Hills region during the mid-2000s."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument does not expand the Act or redefine its substantive powers. It declares wells within the mapped Western Mount Lofty Ranges area to be prescribed (reg 4), sets the establishment and prescribed periods (reg 5), and excludes s124(4) for those wells (reg 6). Nothing in the text alters the geographic boundary in GRO Plan No 242/2004 or adds new categories of regulated infrastructure beyond wells in that mapped area."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused instrument with only six regulations (low textual complexity).","Cross-references to external materials: GRO Plan No 242/2004 defines the geographic scope (reg 3; reg 4).","Dependence on the Natural Resources Management Act 2004 for substantive meaning and consequences (definitions and effects of “prescribed well”, and the content of s124(4) and s124(5) are outside these regulations) (regs 3, 4, 6).","Temporal mechanics: establishes retrospective establishment period and a fixed prescribed period (reg 5), which requires readers to track dates against operational obligations.","Legal effect is concentrated on a defined set of actors (well owners, drillers, landowners), so practical complexity arises from compliance burdens imposed by the parent Act rather than by these regulations themselves."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations declare every well inside the Western Mount Lofty Ranges Prescribed Wells Area (as shown in GRO Plan No 242/2004) to be a “prescribed well”, fix an establishment period (1 July 2001–14 October 2004) and a prescribed period (14 October 2004–31 December 2008), and exclude the operation of section 124(4) of the Natural Resources Management Act 2004 for those wells. They affect landowners, well owners and drilling operators in the mapped area by bringing those wells under the Act’s regulatory regime and by changing the timing and one statutory rule that applies to them."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005","history":"/api/acts/natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/natural-resources-management-western-mount-lofty-ranges-prescribed-wells-area-regulations-2005/documents"}}