Rosalie Auricht, our CEO, has retired

One of the Riverland’s respected senior leaders in the SA and national irrigation and water industry communities, Rosalie Auricht, has retired from her role as CEO. After a decade in leadership roles at the Trust and as the first female CEO in the Trust’s 133-year history, Rosalie leaves behind a legacy of significant achievements and improvements to the Trust’s financial position and water portfolio.

Contributions to the Riverland Community

Reflecting on her time at RIT, Rosalie shared, “Working for the Trust has been a great opportunity to give back to the local community, especially so, given the Riverland is where I was born and grew up.” Under her leadership, RIT became the first irrigation entity to sign an agreement with the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder for delivery of water to degraded floodplain areas adjacent to Renmark, including along Bookmark Creek, to restore the natural environment and benefit the local community.  “By working together, the completion of the Bookmark Creek works in 2025 has created a great asset for the whole community.” Another achievement was in 2018 when RIT became the first irrigation community globally, to be recognised for leadership in sustainable water management, receiving a coveted Gold Certification from the international Alliance for Water Stewardship.

Policy Leadership and Lasting Impact

As a graduate of University of SA and Fellow Certified Practising Accountant, Rosalie’s expertise in financial management, business, and public policy has been an asset for the Trust. Her 45-year career encompassed executive roles in state government and the iconic Red Cross Blood Service and Zoos SA, before joining the Trust in 2015. During 2019-2023, her advocacy and leadership proved instrumental for South Australian irrigators who urgently needed changes to SA’s Private Carryover policy. Thanks to those efforts, irrigators who conserve water during dry periods will now retain the full economic benefit of their water, a significant improvement over the previous policy where conserved water could be easily lost by the irrigators. She remarked, “While I do hope the changed carryover policy is never needed by SA’s irrigators, it does provide certainty for irrigation business decision-making during dry periods with restricted water allocation.” She thanks the SA Government for their willingness to review those initial private carryover arrangements. Her advocacy also enabled the Trust to continue to provide services to customers under the Commonwealth’s ongoing water market reform.

Ongoing Commitment to Balanced Basin Management

Although retiring from the Trust, Rosalie will continue to be independently involved in water matters as a member of the Commonwealth Government’s [Murray-Darling] Basin Community Committee and other water advisory groups that work with state and national governments. She remains passionate about SA’s water security and the health of the Basin.  “It is heartening that many people across the Basin clearly understand that this vital riverine ecosystem must be managed sustainably for the businesses and communities reliant on the river’s resources. It will be important that balanced voices are heard during the 2026 Basin Plan Review.”

A Message to Renmark Irrigators

Rosalie leaves with words of encouragement: “Renmark irrigators have always adapted when faced with new challenges. I wish them all the very best for the future.”

We wish Rosalie all the best for the future.

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The Trust office will close at 4.30pm Tuesday 23 December, and reopen at 9am on Monday 5th January

PLEASE NOTE: Ring 8586 6050 for any urgent matters during this time as we have staff rostered on to deal with emergencies.

Water can be booked by phone from 8.30am to 10.30am each day or you can book anytime via our online water orders page https://orders.rit.org.au/

We hope you have a great Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Join RIT and MRLB for a hands-on conservation experience as we conduct a turtle nest survey at the RIT environmental watering site at Plush’s Bend.

Date: Thursday, 11 December 2025
Time: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Plush’s Bend RV Park, Crescent SA

Click here to register.

For more information see our Environmental Events page.

SA Power Networks have advised of a planned power outage affecting some businesses on Murray Avenue, Renmark on Wednesday, 3 December 2025.

During the outage, our main office will be without power and will be closed from 1:30 to 5pm.

Customers will also be unable to access water orders, telemetry, or our website from 1:30 pm until 7pm.

We appreciate your patience during SAPN’s scheduled power outage.

Renmark’s long-held vision to restore Bookmark Creek will be a step closer when the Jane Eliza regulator is officially opened on Thursday, 23 October. The last constraint will be removed!

Bookmark Creek – once known as Salt Creek – has a story deeply tied to Renmark’s irrigation heritage. In the early years, the Creek supplied water through various pump stations which allowed the pioneering settlement to thrive.

However, from the 1920s onwards, it became clear that underground drainage was vital for irrigation to continue. Initially, tile drains were installed beneath the soil, funnelling excess water into Bookmark and Ral Ral Creeks.  RIT’s drainage scheme introduced in the 1960s and the RADDS scheme in the 1980s helped divert salt water away from the Creek to Noora Basin. However, by this stage the creek’s ecosystem had been badly degraded.

That decline inspired a community-wide effort to bring it back to its natural habitat. Since the 1990s, The Trust, local residents, community groups, such as the Bookmark Creek Action Group, the Renmark Paringa Council and government agencies have worked to restore Bookmark Creek to health.

Today, Bookmark Creek is a living environment that supports native fish, attracts birdlife, and provides spaces for people to connect with nature.

As the last constraint on Bookmark Creek is completed, the Trust thanks everyone who has contributed to restoring Bookmark Creek. It is a great example of what a community can achieve together.

To acknowledge this event, and the Trust’s long relationship with the Creek, we have put together a history of the Creek from the 1890s to today.

More detail below

Notice is hereby given that nominations will be received at the Trust Office until 4.00 pm on Friday 7 November 2025, to fill vacancies caused by expiry of the term of office of the following:

DIRECTORS

BUTLER, James

KOR, Jasvindar

LOGOS, Andrea

LUDAS, David

Nomination forms in accordance with the Renmark Irrigation Trust Act 2009 are available at the Trust Office.  Should more nominations be received than there are vacancies to be filled, an election by ballot will be conducted at the Annual General Meeting of Members on Monday 1 December 2025.

R Auricht, Returning Officer

Renmark continues to account for most recent Queensland fruit fly detections in the Riverland. In the four weeks to 31 August 2025, about 77% of detections were in Renmark, Cooltong and Chaffey.

The biggest barrier to eradicating fruit fly in Renmark is “no access” to properties meaning there are land holdings where PIRSA is unable to check or treat fruit. Providing property access to PIRSA staff is critical to returning to Fruit Fly Free status.

What you can do

PLEASE, let PIRSA fruit fly staff access your property if they call or knock.

• Dispose of fallen fruit correctly.
• Pick, collect, and check homegrown produce to protect your patch.
• Utilise the free self-baiting program for Riverland growers. Get started by calling the Fruit Fly Hotline 1300 666 010

The State Government has put significant resources into controlling this fruit fly outbreak in the Riverland. However, they cannot do it alone. This is our chance to work together to restore our Fruit Fly Free status. Let’s finish the job!

Rescheduled Works –  Planned Water Shutdown

Previously planned and notified works to repair a leak at the corner of 25th Street and Renmark Avenue were postponed due to complications isolating the affected area. These works have been rescheduled and now require a full system shutdown.

Start: 9:00 PM, Sunday 10 August 2025
End: 11:59 PM, Wednesday 13 August 2025
Location: Corner of 25th Street & Renmark Avenue, Renmark
Affected Areas: Full system shutdown

Please ensure your holding tank is filled before the shutdown. As per Trust requirements, your tank should provide sufficient storage to carry you through the outage.

These works are weather dependent and may be delayed if frost is forecast. We will provide updates if the schedule changes.

Changes under Water Market Reform

New regulations under the Commonwealth’s water market reform are now operative. Renmark Irrigation Trust is disappointed to advise customers that from 1 July 2025, it is unable to provide services that could be regarded as a water market intermediary service under the new laws. This means that the Trust cannot provide services to facilitate any water trades of allocation or entitlement between customers (e.g. Form 4 Buy/Sell Orders). Transfers of water between accounts or on/off licence, where the Trust is an approval authority only, may still occur (e.g. Form 3a, 3b and 3c).

We will keep you informed of any further developments.

A new schedule of charges will be in place from July 1 2025. The Schedule can be found on the Customer Portal or a copy can be downloaded here