An Aboriginal community on South Australia's west coast has run dry and has called for help from the federal government to subsidise water carting costs.
Scotdesco Community chief executive Robert Larking says the community is now "completely dry" forcing the 50 residents to have water brought in at "crippling costs".
'We are now in a desperate situation, there is no main potable water source here for the community, we have to buy clean drinking water and yet government has still not stepped up to help by providing subsidised water rates," Mr Larking said in a statement on Monday.
The Scotdesco Community sits just outside an area which receives government subsidies for water carting.
Mr Larking said it currently pays about $1400 for a load of water, more than four times what residents in nearby Penong were charged.
"If the government just extended the radius to include our community, giving us access to the same long-term subsidy arrangement the Penong township receives, we would at least have access to a more affordable supply," he said.
Mr Larking said the situation was forcing some families to move to larger towns such as Ceduna and while desalination, using modern cost-effective technology including solar, could be a long-term option, water caring was the community's only immediate solution.
AAP
