Securing water, staying on Country

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2025 is ‘Bridging Now to Next’ and ‘calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us’. (Reconciliation Australia)

Here’s a practical and successful story of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal South Australians stepping forward together, to solve water supply problems that threatened the viability of two remote communities on Country. Using a co-design process, solutions were developed to enable people to stay on Country and maintain their deep connection to ancestral lands.

Scotdesco community raised the alarm

Scotdesco is on Wirangu Country, approximately 100 kilometres west of Ceduna on the Great Australian Bight. The community is home to around 50 permanent residents, with tourism accommodation and facilities for up to 50 people a day, offering cultural experiences, school camps and corporate event hosting.

Scotdesco is not connected to any regular outside water supply, relying on rainwater for household use. In 2019 Scotdesco became critically low on water, and residents contacted the Minister for Environment and Water to seek a solution.

Simone Stewart and Hannah Ellyard, from the Water Security, Policy and Planning team at Department for Environment and Water, visited Scotdesco to conduct a water audit.

“While we were there,’ said Simone, “we started to understand a lot of impacts of remote communities running out of water, that we as city people probably don’t realise. People who were living in the community were moving to bigger towns. They couldn’t remain on Country supporting the community’s businesses because business was reliant on water. The kids could only shower once a week, so they didn’t want to go to school because they’d get bullied. Lack of water was impacting their ability to have an education.”

The issue was more widespread

Simone and Hannah also realised that there would be more remote communities in South Australia that were slipping through the cracks. “They’re self-supplied; no-one’s overseeing their water management. So we don’t know how at risk they are of running out of water.” They initiated a process which identified 19 self-supplied remote Aboriginal communities in South Australia. Across 2022 – 23, members of the Department’s Water Security and Planning team conducted risk assessments at each location. Aboriginal Engagement Consultant and Ngarrindjeri man Owen Love joined the team to help create friendly, open and informative discussions with the First Nations communities.

Scotdesco and the community of Iga Warta, on Adnyamathanha Country in the northern Flinders Ranges, were identified as having a high risk of water insecurity, and were prioritised for action.

Co-design of solutions empowers communities

Visiting the communities in person was essential for the successful co-design of water solutions. “We made plenty of time to sit down and talk,” said Simone. “Not just about what condition is your rainwater tank in, but what are your aspirations? How are you being held back by not having adequate water supply? What would a good future for the community here look like? How do you want to achieve that?”

“Once we had identified the high risk communities, we went back and asked them, what do you think can fix the problems? The recommendations were led by the community.”

Robert Larking, Scotdesco CEO and Elder, said "it was very important that they came and listened to us and knew our concerns, and that community members were involved in the decision making." And consulting closely with community members has empowered them to take ownership of water management. "Because all the meetings were held here, whether online or face to face, the community became really switched on to not wasting water. We're a much more water-wise community now."

Water solutions at Scotdesco

Scotdesco had an old desalination plant that had never provided a sustainable solution. Parts and maintenance costs ran into thousands of dollars per month.

“The Scotdesco community was very clear that they didn’t want anything complicated or expensive to run”, said Hannah. “They wanted solutions they could manage themselves. They wanted the local plumber, who they felt comfortable with, to do the work.”

The local plumber worked with an engineer to design better rainwater capture, storage and distribution throughout Scotdesco, based on the community’s needs and recommendations. Residents worked alongside the plumber on the installation, giving them insider knowledge of the system’s workings.

Importantly, the system is designed to maximise the capture of water during high rainfall events. Thunderstorms would often cause power failures, meaning that rainwater was not able to be pumped from the collection point to storage tanks. The simple solution: a backup generator. Each household also now has two rainwater tanks, with controls so that one is kept only a third full, leaving space to capture water from the roof during a decent rain.

The community has been empowered to self-manage the rainwater system, with a handover day to residents, an educational video and a comprehensive manual for troubleshooting and maintenance.

Iga Warta

Iga Warta, as well as being home to 25 permanent residents, is a cultural centre offering visitors a unique opportunity to experience Adnyamathanha culture, in the northern Flinders Ranges. Tourism facilities include 46 beds, campsites for up to 30 people, and a swimming pool. The community wishes to be self-sufficient and sustainable, growing their own food, propagating native trees such as the Iga (native orange) and Quandong, and running tourism experiences including 35,000 year old rock art and bush tucker tours. But a growing scarcity of quality water had forced a cutback in tourism operations. The community often needed to buy in boxed water for drinking and cooking.

Iga Warta Elder Terrence Coulthard said “we had some frustrating times, not knowing where the next drink was coming from, for our animals, for our plants and for us to use. The native plant nursery became obsolete because we couldn’t water.”

When the team dug into the issue with the Iga Warta people, they discovered that the site collected barely enough rainwater for drinking and cooking use. And the bore, which supplied water for non-potable uses such as in showers and washing machines, often became contaminated with high levels of iron bacteria. The community would then switch to their precious rainwater supply for all purposes, quickly draining it.

Simone said, “they told us, we don’t want desalinisation because it’s a huge expense. Even if it’s solar powered, there’s ongoing maintenance costs. We don’t know how to repair it. We live six hours north of Adelaide. If something fails, who’s going to come out and fix it? And how long will that take?”

The co-designed water solution at Iga Warta consists of two new bores (one solar powered), two heavy duty water pumps, new groundwater storage tanks and improved monitoring and maintenance systems. A co-developed community water management plan has empowered the community to understand and maintain the water supply.

The people of Iga Warta now have improved availability of both rainwater and bore water, and water to irrigate their native plant nursery. But perhaps the most dramatically visible result of the work is the sparkling, clear water that has refilled Iga Warta’s swimming pool, for the use of tourists and community. This has also been a win for the greater local area.

“The pool services the neighbouring communities too”, said Terrence. “Leigh Creek and Nepabunna people come out here and use it; it’s been good for local community.”

“We still have to monitor the water and make sure we don’t over-use it, but out of this project, we have the security of knowing we can actually enjoy our place,” said Terrence. “We can take care of Country, take care of our people, with the security of knowing we’ve got good quality water and plenty of it.”

The Scotdesco Water Solution Project was funded by the Australian Government through a Federation Funding Agreement, delivered by the SA Department for Environment and Water.

The Iga Warta Water Security Project is a National Water Grid project, funded by the Australian and South Australian Governments and delivered in partnership with the Iga Warta homeland.

The state has submitted a proposal to the National Water Grid Authority to address the water security risks in the remaining high risk remote First Nations Communities, and is hopeful to be in a position to assist the communities in achieving water security in the near future.