Ewens Ponds
| Ewens Ponds | |
|---|---|
| Location | South Australia |
| Type | Cenotes |
| Primary outflows | Eight Mile Creek |
| Catchment area | spring-fed water body |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Max. length | Pond 1 - 50 metres (160 feet) Pond 2 - 38 metres (125 feet) Pond 3 - 19 metres (62 feet) |
| Max. width | Pond 1 - 32 metres (105 feet) Pond 2 - 38 metres (125 feet) Pond 3 - 28 metres (92 feet) |
| Average depth | Pond 1 - 9 metres (30 feet) Pond 2 - 9 metres (30 feet) Pond 3 - 13 metres (43 feet) |
| Max. depth | 13 metres (43 feet) |
| Water volume | Pond 1 - 28,000 cubic metres (990,000 cubic feet) Pond 2 - 212,000 cubic metres (7,500,000 cubic feet) Pond 3 - 4,400 cubic metres (160,000 cubic feet) |
| Residence time | Pond 1 - 6 hours Pond 2 - 3 hours Pond 3 - 1.5 hours |
Ewens Ponds is a series of three water-filled limestone sinkholes in the Australian state of South Australia located in the gazetted locality of Eight Mile Creek on the watercourse known as Eight Mile Creek about 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of Mount Gambier and 8.4 kilometres (5.2 miles) east of Port Macdonnell. The ponds are popular with recreational divers due to underwater visibility of up to 80 metres (260 feet). It has a large fish population including the endangered golden pygmy perch. Ewens Ponds has been part of the Ewens Ponds Conservation Park since 1976.
The original inhabitants of the land were Aborigines of the "Boandik" tribe, part of a larger "Bunganditj" clan. The first European identified with the area was Thomas Ewens, whose dog chased a kangaroo into one of the ponds. The land surrounding the ponds was gradually cleared for agriculture and dairy farming and a drainage system built to draw water from the ponds for land sold for soldier settlement programs post-World War II.
In 1978 a trout farm was established utilising the waters flowing through Ewens Ponds. Although the ponds themselves are now part of a conservation park, the farm continues to operate. Water for the farm is drawn from the second pond, and wastewater discharged back into Eight Mile Creek downstream from the pond system.
Each pond is a basin-shaped limestone doline approximately 9 metres (30 feet) deep and connected to the others by shallow watercourses called "races". The beds are covered with a fine silt layer and the floor of the third pond also contains a natural shallow cave. The ponds are located in a narrow band of native bush land, surrounded by cleared terrain. The landscape is characteristic of karst topography, shaped by the gradual dissolution of soluble limestone to form hollows and small caves, along with numerous large and relatively deep sinkholes (true cenotes).
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Wikipedia