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The South Australian Government, acutely aware that the last 12 months have seen rainfall at the lowest levels on record across multiple areas of the State, has announced a number of measures to support off-grid households in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu region, where current demands for water carting services significantly exceed supply.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, over the last 12 months parts of the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu region have seen their lowest rainfall on record for any 12-month period. Last year was also Adelaide’s driest year since the Millennium Drought, with only 289.6 mm of rain recorded over the 12 months to 31 January 2025, or just over half of Adelaide’s average annual rainfall.
Off-grid households have traditionally relied on water carting businesses when needing to top up their domestic water supplies. Water carters who provide drinking water supplies are required to be registered with SA Health, and there are a range of operators who provide this service on a commercial basis throughout the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu region, as well as in other parts of the State.
As a result of the extreme dry conditions, there have been reports of very high levels of demand for water carters in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu region, as well as reports of people having to cart in water for the first time after more than 30 years on their properties. There are also reports that these demands significantly exceed the current capacity of the water carting sector, resulting in increased waiting times for some households and no guarantees that water will be available before people run dry.
To help overcome this supply deficit, the South Australian Government is moving to provide additional emergency supply options in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu region for those that have no other means of accessing water. The Government will seek to do this in partnership with local government and in a way that complements the crucial ongoing role of the water carting sector, similar to other local government areas across the state.
To bring this into effect the Government will be taking the following steps:
- Through SA Water, the Government will initially establish temporary, user-pays bulk water collection points at three separate locations across the Adelaide Hills, being:
- Ridge Road, Woodside
- Koennecke Road, Sandergrove
- Peggy Buxton Road, Brukunga.
A fourth temporary bulk water collection point is also being considered for the southern Fleurieu in or around Aldinga.
- Where water carters report bottlenecks affecting their ability to take bulk water, SA Water will work with them to identify alternative sites for extraction where possible.
- The Government is working to link water carters with transport supply companies to provide for additional delivery truck capacity to support the water carting sector during these unprecedented times.
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