Desal plant cranks up as Adelaide drinking water reservoirs hit lowest levels in 20 years

SA’s drinking water reservoirs are at 20-year lows and farmers are struggling to feed their sheep as drought threatens the state.

Drinking water production at Adelaide’s desalination plant is being pushed to capacity for only the second time in its 13-year history as reservoir levels drop to their lowest level for more than 20 years.

Adelaide Desalination Plant in Lonsdale will be pumping out 300m litres of drinking water each day until at least mid-2025, compared with the 520m litres is produced for the entire month in January last year, as the state government takes urgent action to boost dwindling supply.

Urban Development Minister Nick Champion said last year was Adelaide’s driest since 2006 with only 347mm of rain and the state experienced the lowest water inflows to Adelaide’s reservoirs for around 40 years.

Nick Champion, inset, with the Adelaide desal plant.

The combined water level at the 10 reservoirs supplying Adelaide’s drinking water has plummeted to 44 per cent, the lowest since drought ravished the state in the early 2000s when the Rann Government announced in 2007 the state would build the desalination plant.

SA Water is also having to increase water pumped from the River Murray to top up diminishing reservoirs, but Mr Champion has ruled out water restrictions.

“It has been an exceptionally dry 12 months, but Adelaide’s water supply will remain consistent and secure, with sufficient supply to meet the needs of the community,” he said, adding that the state’s desalination plants are “future-proofing” water supply.

The salinity plant was operated at capacity as part of its first commissioning process and only one other time in 2019-2020 as part of the Federal Government’s fodder program to help farmers suffering from drought.

Drinking water from the desalination plant is pumped along an 11km pipeline to storage tanks at Happy Valley where it is blended with treated water from the reservoir.

Across the state, farmers continue struggling with drought conditions.

Aussie Hay Runners and other charities are delivering 100 truckloads of donated hay to drought-stricken farmers across South Australia. Picture: Chris Woodman

A convoy of more than 100 trucks laden with donated hay from Victoria rolled into SA over the weekend to deliver much-needed feed to farmers facing soaring hay prices and dwindling quality fodder supplies.

Trucks delivered hay to farmers across the state from the Riverland to Peterborough, Ceduna, Mount Remarkable and Murray Bridge.

The deliveries come on the back of an $18m drought support package announced by the state government last November, including $2m to help charities with freight costs like the hay deliveries.

Aussie Hay Runners and other charities are delivering 100 truckloads of donated hay to drought-stricken farmers across South Australia. Picture: Chris Woodman

It also offers $5m in grants to help farmers droughtproof their properties, and helped fund a ‘24 Drought: Resilience at its Best’ event in the Mt Remarkable region attended by 900 people, along with smaller events across the state.

Aussie Hay Runners founder Linda Widdup said in her five years making charity runs across the nation, she had never seen it worse.

Originally published as Desal plant cranks up as Adelaide drinking water reservoirs hit lowest levels in 20 years