State Government’s emergency response as households in Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula run out of water

The SA Government has issued an emergency response for households who have run out of water, as some people turn to using showers in local sporting clubrooms.

The State Government has announced an emergency response to drought conditions in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu regions as it can be revealed some families have been forced to shower in local sporting clubrooms because their homes have run out of water.

The government will establish temporary user-pays bulk water collection points in the Hills as an emergency supply for people, not collected to SA Water, whose tanks have run dry.

Water Minister Susan Close said the bulk water collection points will be staffed by SA Water from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week from Thursday.

“For those who cannot obtain timely access to water supplies from a water carter, these temporary bulk water collection points are intended to provide a source of emergency supply that allows households to collect water for domestic purposes,” Ms Close said.

Water minister Susan Close. Picture: Tom Huntley

“The bulk water collection points are not intended for commercial stock or watering gardens. “While the bulk water collection point water will be of drinking water quality, there are measures that must be taken to ensure it remains drinkable once it leaves the pipe, including the type of container that is used to transport the water to the property.”

Ms Close said the measure was designed to support the water carting industry, which had been working around the clock to keep up with demand.

“(These measures) do not relieve off-grid households from their responsibility to carefully monitor and proactively manage their own water supplies,” Ms Close said.

“With climate change, we expect to see longer and more frequent periods of hot and dry weather. It is critical that households and businesses plan ahead for extreme conditions.

Dams across the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula have run dry.

“While some off-grid households may have been able to rely on their existing rainwater storages or groundwater supplies in the past, this may not be the case in the future.”

Ms Close also revealed she had heard stories of sporting clubs opening their clubrooms to provide locals with a place to shower, and of neighbours opening their homes, and taps, to people in need.

“It is really heartening to see the community coming together to support each other in these difficult times,” she said.

“It is important to note that the situation we are dealing with in the Hills and Fleurieu is not an overall issue of water security – sufficient volumes of water are currently available to meet domestic supply in this region – the issue that is really affecting off-grid households in this area is the current inability of the water transport market to meet their demands for supply.”

The State Government will look to provide extra trucks to water carters, who have been overwhelmed with demand, and fast-track new water carters seeking to enter the sector.

The emergency bulk water collection points will be at Ridge Rd, Woodside, Koennecke Rd, Sandergrove and Peggy Buxton Rd, Brukunga. A fourth point is also being considered in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula or around Aldinga.

Ms Close said there was no need to introduce water restrictions in the wake of a government decision to ramp up production at Adelaide Desalination Plant as most of South Australia endures its driest 12 months on record.

Liberal water spokesman David Basham urged the government to create a bi-partisan taskforce to find solutions to the drought. Mr Basham said the current response failed to help other regional communities such as in the Barossa and Mid North who were also facing dire water shortages.

Originally published as State Government’s emergency response as households in Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula run out of water