The Padthaway region has since the mid-1950's been an important area for irrigation of pasture, seed crops, vegetables and later vines. A shallow highly transmissive unconfined aquifer provides good quality groundwater for irrigation. Groundwater use is controlled under the Water Resources Act (1990) by means of a crop-area and crop water use system. SADME established a water level and water quality monitoring network in 1970 although rigorous water quality data is only available since 1978. Over this period, water level fluctuation trends on the flats west of the Naracoorte Range and for some distance into the foothills generally parallel rainfall trends. Further east into the Range, the water table has been consistently rising since at least 1971, with increased recharge due to vegetation clearance contributing to this phenomenon. In the eastern two-thirds of the Proclaimed Wells Area groundwater salinities are increasing whilst they are decreasing in the western one-third. The monitoring data do not support a change in current management policies for the area by increasing or decreasing licence allocations.