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McLaren Vale Regional Water Security Strategy

Have your say on a draft McLaren Vale Regional Water Security Strategy by visiting YourSAy before 10 September 2025.

DEW is working with the McLaren Vale community and local businesses to develop a water security strategy for the region.

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Learn about the McLaren Vale Regional Water Security Strategy.
Find out how to get involved and have your say.
Stay up-to-date on the development of the strategy.

McLaren Vale is a premium wine-producing region with more than 7,300 hectares planted to vines. Irrigation water is sourced from local groundwater and recycled water from the Christies Beach and Aldinga Wastewater Treatment plants. Approximately 6,000 – 7,000 megalitres (ML) of recycled wastewater is supplied each year, with approximately 5,000 ML of groundwater providing the remaining water required. Access to recycled water has taken pressure off the local groundwater resources and has enabled irrigated areas to expand.

What we are doing

DEW is partnering with the McLaren Vale Grape, Wine & Tourism Association, City of Onkaparinga, Willunga Basin Water Company, the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, SA Water, Primary Industries and Regions SA and the McLaren Vale regional community to develop a long-term water security strategy.

The strategy will consider new water supplies, expansion of existing supplies and changing demand profiles in the context of a changing climate. The strategy seeks to ensure that infrastructure projects and water management policies complement each other to support the region.

The strategy will consider significant global, regional and local events that could affect water security to make sure that future options investigated are resilient to a changing future.

An economic options assessment will help inform the strategy by considering future demand for water and the supply options that could meet this demand. The final strategy will set out actions to achieve water security and investment pathways to assist with decision-making into the future.

Alongside the development of a water security strategy, a number of other water-related projects are underway. An Information Sheet provides more detail about other projects and how they relate to the strategy.

Developing the strategy

McLaren Vale Regional Water Security Strategy

To help develop the water security strategy, 3 workshops were held during 2023-24. Through these workshops, a shared water security vision for the McLaren Vale Region was developed and pathways to achieve that vision were considered.

Workshop 1 was held on 1 February 2023. At this workshop, a shared water security vision for the McLaren Vale Region was developed, along with actions that would contribute to achieving the shared vision. View the update from workshop one.

Workshop 2 was held on 27 June 2023. At this workshop, detailed scenarios for the future were developed and water security options were further refined. View the update from workshop 2.

Workshop 3 was held on Thursday 20 June 2024. At this workshop, analysis of the outcomes of the first 2 workshops and the economic options assessment was presented. Feedback was received on the strategic actions, supply options and investment pathways to include in the final strategy.

An analysis of options, under both current and future climate scenarios, also supported the strategy’s development and the prioritisation of actions.