The Padthaway Prescribed Wells Area (PWA) is located 300 km SE of Adelaide and covers an area of ~700 square km. The PWA can be divided by topography into a low-lying interdunal flat to the west and a remnant dune ridge that rises above the flat by ~60 metres to the east. They are separated by the NW-SE Kanawinka Fault. The main water resource is the regionally unconfined aquifer. On the flat, groundwater flows through two sub-aquifers of the unconfined aquifer system: the Padthaway Formation sub-aquifer which is present only on the flat, and the underlying Bridgewater Formation sub-aquifer. The sub-aquifers are hydraulically connected in the main irrigation area. The Padthaway Formation sub-aquifer is particularly transmissive and generates high well yields. In the range, the Bridgewater Formation sub-aquifer is the main source of groundwater. Poor cementation of the sediments, in some areas, in this formation limits its potential as an aquifer. The confined aquifer is generally absent, or thin (less than 2.5 m), over much of the Padthaway PWA, and is not utilised as a water resource. There were originally 5 water management sub-areas in the Padthaway PWA, but were never formally recognised. Because the sub-areas were until recently unofficial, the DWR database can only supply allocation and water use figures for the whole of the PWA. Sub-areas 1, 2A, 2B and 3 are situated on the flat. Sub-area 4 is the highlands area lying north-east of the Kanawinka Fault. Sub-areas 2A and 2B are located immediately SW of the fault and are collectively known as the Intensely Irrigated Area. Viticulture is the main crop type in these sub-areas. Four management sub-areas have now been formerly adopted for the PWA. Sub-area 2A and Sub-area 2B have been combined as one. The total allocation for the Padthaway PWA for the 1998/1999 season was 35 084 ML. Water use for the same period was estimated to be 24 944 ML but the figure is not the actual volume extracted but rather an estimate of crop water usage. The danger is that the current water use for the PWA can increase by ~40% before reaching the permissible water allocation limit. It is presumed the outstanding, unused allocations, are in areas outside the main irrigation areas of Sub-areas 2A and 2B, but there are no figures to confirm this. There are currently 42 observation wells in the water level monitoring network. There are two salinity monitoring networks in the PWA, a government operated network and a private irrigation network. The combined total of observation wells is 81. Generally the networks are adequate; it is recommended to increase the number of water level observation wells in the central part of Sub-area 2B. Water levels on the flat have generally remained stable over the monitoring period, which commenced in the early 1970s. However, salinity in the Intensely Irrigated Area is rising at a rate of between 5 and 18 mg/L annually. The current levels of salinity are at or approaching the limits for established viticulture, any further increases which the monitoring data indicates, may seriously affect this industry. Groundwater recycling of irrigation water is considered the cause of this increase. In the Range, water levels are rising on average between 2 and 12 cm/yr. Hydrographs show the greatest rise has occurred since the early 1980s, attributed to clearance of native vegetation by early European settlers, and the failure of lucerne crops in the mid-1970s. Associated with the rising water table is an increase in groundwater salinity. Various options to mitigate the rising salinity trend in Sub-area 2B have been identified by the community. Most of these require obtaining water from an external source. In the long-term the only way to manage the resource in a sustainable manner would be to reduce water use. The present level of water use in Sub-area 2B is estimated to be more than twice the recharge by rainfall.