Drilling goes on to find groundwater needed for APY Lands communities in South Australia's dry far northwest corner

Continued drilling for groundwater sources (main image) in the APY Lands in South Australia's remote northwest corner (see map) at times finds lots of water in aquifers. Top right: A 1946 image of a Pukatja (Ernabella) waterhole, among the original sources of water in the dry region. Middle right: An SA Water desalination plant at Kaltjiti needed to make the groundwater drinkable.
Images courtesy SA Water, Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery, National Library of Australia via Trove

The search continued in 2025 for more reliable groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin to sustain communities in and around the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in north-western South Australia with its low sporadic rainfall.

Local Aboriginal peoples originally sourced water from tree roots, rock waterholes and soaks as seen by European explorer Ernest Giles in 1873 at Pukatja (Ernabella). The South Australia government only started drilling and surveying to tap into groundwater sources in the early 1970s and achieved six wells from 13 attempts in 1997. Neither the alluvial or basement aquifers that were found were large and groundwater was in compartments. Salinity, nitrates and fluoride levels were often close to World Health Organisation unsafe limits and demand for water across the lands was increasing.

From 2005, SA Water was been involved in developing and managing water supplies and wastewater disposal systems in nine APY Lands communities  Indulkana, Mimili, Kaltjiti (Fregon), Umuwa, Pukatja (Ernabella), Yunyarinyi (Kenmore Park), Amata, Pipalyatjara and Kalka. Included in these operations were 53 bores (nine of them solar-powered) and five state-of-the-art desalination plants at Indulkana, Mimili, Kaltjiti (Fregon), Yunyarinyi (Kenmore Park) and Murputja.

In 2015, the South Australian government environment and water department was engaged by SA Water to address the critical water needs of seven Aboriginal communities (Amata, Kaltjiti, Indulkana, Mimili, Pukatja and Yunyarinyi) in the APY Lands and also at Yalata of the South Australia’s west coast, through exploring and drilling for groundwater.

The scarcity of alluvial groundwater sources and shortfalls of previous drilling campaigns led the department’s project team to target fractured basement groundwater. Simultaneously, the government’s planning, transport and infrastructure department secured Australian and South Australian government funding to upgrade 210 kilometres of main access road between the Stuart Highway and Pukatja (Ernabella).

From the need to find water to support the main access road project, departmental staff with specialist skills in well drilling and construction, pump testing and downhole geophysics produced:
        *13 community wells completed at Amata, Pukatja, Kaltjiti, Mimili, Indulkana and Yalata.
        * Significant new water sources identified at Amata, Pukatja and Kaltjiti.
        * Three wells completed for the main access road upgrade at three out of six locations.
        * The APY Lands Water Search project, promoting positive relationships between government and Aboriginal communities, and shared knowledge and expertise across agencies.

But a lack of knowledge about the groundwater systems near the 19 APY and other outback communities meant the search continued for sustainable aquifers, working closely with local Indigenous peoples. The self-supplied remote communities groundwater quality assessment project and the APY Lands groundwater quantity and quality investigation were expected to be completed by 2026.