Houseboat owners are being forced to move away from Ral Ral Creek after being notified that Renmark Paringa Council will not renew their leases to moor there after June 30.
Up to 25 houseboats are expected to relocate from their moorings near the council-owned Jane Eliza Estate.
It comes after the council announced an expansion of the estate, including the development of up to 780 new homes, a marina and a commercial precinct.
With only months until the leases end, Renmark Paringa Houseboat Collective founder Jenny Troeth said the Ral Ral Creek community was not sure where they would go next.
"There's a huge amount of uncertainty and insecurity down there as to what their future holds and where they're going to be able to moor their boats," she said.
"Their world is just being turned upside down."
There is also fear among owners of neighbouring vessels along the Liba Liba marina that their moorings will also be taken away.
Retirement plans hits a snag
Some locals have moored their boats on the waters of Ral Ral Creek for more than 20 years, which Ms Troeth said would make relocating even more challenging.
"There's people down there that have sunk their life savings into these things to provide a future [for] their retirement."
While houseboat owners will have the opportunity to continue mooring at the site when the marina development is complete, some worry that could be years away.
And Ms Troeth said some houseboat owners were reluctant to even consider going into a marina.
Some members of the Ral Ral Creek houseboat community said the council had not properly consulted with them.
Houseboat community alive and kicking
Ms Troeth, who moors her boat at Lock 5 Road marina near Paringa, said the houseboat industry in Renmark Paringa was "very alive" and had a large economic impact on the region.
"[It] brings an awful lot of money into this town by way of tourism," she said.
"I've just been into Renmark yesterday and today, and I've spent $500 in there to go up river for a week, and that's just one boat.
Ms Troeth is in consultation with other houseboat advocacy groups to assess what steps can be taken to reach a resolution for the community.
Houseboat management becoming harder, council says
Renmark Paringa Council chief executive Tony Siviour said the council had been in regular contact with affected houseboat owners since last year.
"We've probably spoken to every private landowner that has land that adjoins the river, we've met with the Department of Environment and Water on multiple occasions," he said.
Mr Siviour said houseboat management along the river was becoming harder for the council as houseboats became more popular.
"There does need to be some overarching policy change around how we do manage houseboats," he said.
"The other thing that we're attempting to achieve is to create capacity to get more boats off of the river, because managing boat moorings on river is difficult.
"We're finding it increasingly difficult to manage."
