Across the Adelaide Hills and other parts of South Australia, thousands of residents are running out of water – or have already run out – as drought conditions bite.
“They can’t drink water. They can’t flush the toilet. They can’t wash their hands, their linen,” Adelaide Hills resident Robyn Saunders says.
Those who are not on mains water, so rely on dams and tanks, are having to wait weeks for water deliveries. One of about a dozen water carters servicing the hills says they have 500 people waiting.
Saunders had to leave her Aldgate home when it ran dry.
She’s frustrated that in a vulnerable environment, where droughts are becoming increasingly likely due to the climate crisis, there are no solutions when people run out of water. It’s an “extraordinary” situation in a first world country, she says.
“We’re not being provided with a basic human need.”
According to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest drought report, most of South Australia – as well as the Northern Territory and Tasmania – had below average to very much below average rainfall in January.
Last year was Adelaide’s driest since 2006, prompting the state government to fire up the Adelaide desalination plant to produce 300m litres of water a day. That measure has meant Adelaide hasn’t had to impose water restrictions, which were last in place during the millennium drought.
Waiting weeks for water
In mid-February, Saunders left for Kangaroo Island, where a desalination plant means more houses are on mains water. But she’s had to come back for work, and has managed to scrape together enough water to last her until a planned delivery in early March.
“I’ve been up in the hills for 30 years and we’ve faced shortages before, but this is the worst,” she says. “I have two tanks now. I rely completely and solely on rainwater, which is not unusual.
“I’ve run dry twice. I managed to get one lot of water, but that has run dry.”
Water carter Jon Ker usually delivers water in his spare time. “Now I’m absolutely flat out running loads around my shifts, after night shifts,” the firie says. “One of the water carters is booked out until the end of April.”
One water carter who did not want to be named said “rude, angry and desperate” people kept calling them.
Another, who also did not want to be named after dealing with irate customers, said he received hundreds of calls and emails a day, but it was still a five-week wait for customers, and he had 500 on his books. He tells them to go to a mate’s house, join a gym or go to the pool to use showers.
The ABC reported on Friday that some people faced waits of three months.
The member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, told parliament earlier this month that some parts of the state had had the lowest rainfall since records began.
“While we’re accustomed to periods of drought, households in Mayo not connected to mains water are running out of water,” she said. “Some are making the heartbreaking decision to leave their homes.”
She was talking to the state water minister about how to improve water deliveries, she said.
A state government spokesperson said it was an individual or business’s responsibility to ensure they have water. Those who run out might have to rely on commercial water carters, they said.
“Due to the current and extended dry conditions through many areas, there is a high demand for water carters,” the spokesperson said.
“It is highly recommended that landholders who are reliant on water tanks for their water supply regularly monitor their water storages and plan ahead to ensure that water can be supplied prior to storages running dry.”
The water minister, Susan Close, told ABC radio on Friday she was working with councils and SA Water on a plan to allow people direct access to mains water pipes where they can fill up containers, as well as potentially repurposing milk trucks.
Farmers trying ‘to make ends meet’
People on the Fleurieu peninsula are also running out of water, Sharkie says. Rural Aid says farmers are also being hit hard, and that people along the Eyre peninsula are running short.
Rural Aid counsellor and community representative Dorothy Crosby says farmers are now meeting with bank managers to work out how to get through the year ahead, as stock prices fall and the hay runs out.
“I can’t convey how dry it is,” she says.
“On the ground, every farmer’s just trying to work out how to make ends meet. Lots of people around here have gone off-farm to make some money. There’s limited hay. No one has any money.”
Some are suffering from anxiety as they try to cope, she says. But she adds that there’s an “incredible outpouring” of help, with fundraising and awareness events across the state, and people pitching in to help.
The state government announced an $18m drought support package for farmers in November last year.
One of the water carters warns the situation won’t get better any time soon, with no rain forecast and hot weather continuing.
“We’re not even in the busy part [of the year] yet,” he said.
