Goyder Institute for Water Research

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The Goyder Institute for Water Research (Goyder Institute) is a South Australian group that studies water to find sustainable ways to manage it. It was started in 2010 by the South Australian Government and brings together the Department for Environment and Water (DEW), CSIRO, Flinders University, the University of Adelaide, and the University of South Australia.

In February 2024, the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth (CLLMM) Research Centre opened in Goolwa. This centre aims to improve water management in the region by working with local communities and industries.

South Australia faced a long drought before 2010 and there were worries about fair water distribution in the Murray–Darling basin. This helped push changes to national water laws. The SA Government funded the Goyder Institute to improve water security and help the government turn science into policy.

The Goyder Institute is governed by a board with an independent chair, the institute’s director, and representatives from DEW, CSIRO, and the three partner universities. As of February 2024, the director is Alec Rolston.

In 2019, federal MP Rebekha Sharkie asked finance minister Mathias Cormann for funding a regional research centre. Starting in 2022/23, the Australian Labor Government provided AU$8 million over four years to fund work with local communities on climate change effects in the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth region and to establish the new Goolwa centre and a research program.

A key goal of the institute is to build strong ties with First Nations and other local communities, including the Ngarrindjeri and Boandik peoples, to gain input on how to improve water management.

Goyder Institute researchers publish an electronic technical report series, usually 5–10 issues each year, since 2011.

One early project is G-FLOWS (Facilitating Long-Term Outback Water Solutions), which looked for groundwater resources in South Australia’s priority mineral areas, including the Musgrave Province, parts of the Gawler Craton, the Frome Embayment, and the northern Eyre Peninsula.