Pictured: Mount Bold Reservoir
Adelaide’s reservoirs have seen a significant increase in water levels this year, with more than double the volume flowing in compared to last year, as reported by SA Water. In 2025, a total of 61 billion litres of water will have been added to the city’s reservoirs, a dramatic rise from the 25 billion litres recorded during the whole of 2024. This increase has brought the combined storage level to 69 per cent as the city heads into the summer months, significantly improved from the 51 per cent at the same time last year.
Mount Bold Reservoir has benefited the most, with its storage levels reaching 77 per cent. This improvement has been attributed to natural catchment inflows and proactive transfers from the River Murray.
Dr Ashley Kingsborough, SA Water’s Senior Manager of Water Futures and Security, shared, “After one of the driest 18-month periods on record, rainfall late in July played a significant role in delivering a decent soaking of our catchments. During only one week in late July, a whopping 18.5 billion litres of water flowed into Adelaide’s reservoirs – which increased our combined storage level by 10 per cent at the time, and almost doubled the volume of water stored in Mount Bold.
Despite these gains, Dr Kingsborough says that the rainfall in subsequent months did not maintain the same momentum, except for November, which was extraordinarily wet, being the second wettest in 55 years with 74.2 millimetres recorded at the West Terrace rain gauge. Even though this brought an additional 5.6 billion litres into the reservoirs, the overall volume still fell below the 10-year average of 82 billion litres for this time of year.
“This variability is exactly why we don’t solely rely on rainfall to ensure a secure supply of water for Adelaide. We also have the River Murray and our climate-independent Adelaide Desalination Plant to underpin the city’s water security, giving us 3 primary sources of water supply.
“Part of our strategy this year has been to maximise our transfers of water from the River Murray in winter and spring, to help our reservoirs recover from their lowest combined level in 20 years and prepare them for summer when demand naturally increases.”
SA Water, a corporation owned by the people of South Australia, manages to deliver essential water and sewerage services across the state, investing around $300 million annually in maintaining and enhancing the statewide network. These efforts play a crucial role in supporting South Australia’s social and economic development.
Looking into the summer months, the Adelaide Desalination Plant will continue operating at its typical minimum production rate. “We’re confident our reservoir storages are sufficient to support customer demand in the warmer months ahead.”
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