A lack of water might seem like it should be the last thing on River Murray locals' minds during the worst flooding in almost 70 years.
But Riverland irrigators are confronting that very possibility because of what some believe is an overzealous approach to disconnecting power to their properties.
Irrigation throughout the food production region relies on pumps powered by mains electricity.
But electricity distributor SA Power Networks has been disconnecting power to properties for safety reasons, amid an intensifying flood emergency over the past few weeks.
Yesterday, authorities warned that flood peaks were still weeks away, and that the deluge was likely to overtake the 1974 floods as the worst since the deluge of 1956.
Drew Martin's property at Murtho upstream of Renmark currently has power, but the almond grower said he knew of several irrigators who have had supply cut without warning.
"There's been a lot of uncertainty around power supply," he said.
"A few growers, two weekends ago, had their power shut off on Friday night and Saturday morning. A lot of them were watching their kids play sport and then they got an alarm on the phone that the power had been turned off.
"They soon found out it was SA Power Networks turning them off, and this was right before it was going to be 38C.
"These are intensive crops that need water every day."
Mr Martin said while some of those growers had since had supply restored, there was "a disconnect with the community … and it's disappointing that we're dealing with this".
Henry DuRieu said while the electricity supply had been cut to his pump without "prior warning", he was "fortunate enough" to be able to secure water by other means.
But it is a different story for some of his neighbours.
"They've got 300 hectares of vines behind me and 100 hectares of almonds and for those guys who have had to find alternative ways to irrigate their properties, it's been really stressful and very costly," he said.
"It's been really haphazard, there's been a severe lack of communication along the way.
"If you lose a 300-hectare property from lack of water it's a five-to-seven-year turnaround to get production back."
Mr DuRieu said growers were slugged a $400 reconnection fee to have their power switched back on.
Safety the priority, distributor says
Local MP Tim Whetstone said more than 2,500 disconnections had been undertaken, leaving irrigators high and dry.
"That's putting strain on every Riverlander but particularly our irrigators who are having power disconnected to their pumps and particularly without notice," he said.
"They are looking after many, many millions of dollars of investment. Without power that investment will die.
"I don't think it's good enough that an organisation of that stature can just come in and turn off power."
Mr Whetstone said the current approach needed to be reviewed, especially since "we don't know if we're going to get a high river again next year".
"We understand safety has to be a factor in this, but I really think there's been a lack of planning," he said.
But SA Power Networks has defended its approach, saying safety is its priority and that it is sometimes necessary to switch off electricity in order to minimise "risk to lives and property" and the likelihood of electrocutions.
"These are emergency disconnections and by definition we can't notify customers in all circumstances," spokesperson Paul Roberts said.
"We endeavour to give as much warning as possible but when we get to some locations, we find water inundation beyond the SA Government modelling expectations and have to disconnect further up the electricity network.
"In these cases, we have to locate the nearest safe point in the network to disconnect power supply to areas that are flooded or will be flooded within days. In many cases this is now a transformer with multiple customers on it."
But Mr Roberts said after feedback from residents SA Power Networks was now sending SMS notifications to more irrigators when there is the potential for disconnections in certain areas.
The company urged more locals to sign up for its SMS service, Power@MyPlace, for advanced warning.
On Thursday, the government released its latest floodwater predictions, and estimated the peak was due in Renmark around the end of December at a level between 190 and 220 gigalitres a day.
Australian Defence Force personnel have begun arriving to assist locals urgently bolstering levees and local flood defences.
Government flags further flood spending
More than 1,100 properties have been inundated so far with a total of 4,000 expected to go under by the end of the month, including 255 businesses.
The government has previously committed to a $51.6 million assistance package — but, during today's mid-year budget review, Treasurer Stephen Mullighan flagged the likelihood of further spending.
"We have announced a Riverland floods package, but it won't be the last announcement we're going to make," he said.
"We are not sure yet how much that response is going to cost because, realistically, we are not going to know the scale of the damage until the floodwaters recede.
"What we do know is that the councils will need significant support from the state government in getting their communities back on their feet and also repairing local infrastructure.
"There are significant clean-up costs, there are pest and weed infestations, there's the support for householders, support for business."
