Light Regional Council Mayor – Bill O’Brien, Light Regional Council Deputy Mayor – Deane Rohrlach, Randall Wine Group & Seppeltsfield, Executive Chairman and Proprietor – Warren Randall. Photo courtesy Randall Wine Group

The Randall Wine Group was established in 1978 and is Australia’s largest private luxury vineyard holder and their holdings include Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa.

After seven winters of successful operational use, Seppeltsfield has acquired Bunyip Water from the Light Regional Council and therefore completed a step to waterproof its Barossa vineyards against the backdrop of global warming and climate change.

In 2014, Seppeltsfield Wines in the Barossa Valley joined forces with its Local Council; the Light Regional Council, supported by Federal Government funding from the Stormwater harvesting and re-use project.

They agreed to plan and build a 42 km pipeline to harvest surplus winter stormwater flows from the Gawler River and pump them north to provide supplementary irrigation to Barossa Valley vineyards and irrigation water for community use on ovals, parks and gardens.

Following its acquisition of the “Barossa Vines” Managed Investment Scheme, Seppeltsfield sought to waterproof their vineyards with an independent water supply that was not dependent on supply from the River Murray – Bunyip Water was born.

Designed by Hydroplan in collaboration with Seppeltsfield and originally known as the Gawler River Water Re-use Scheme, it was re-named to pay homage to the town of its source, Gawler, established in 1836 and its local newspaper, “The Bunyip”.

The Bunyip Water pipeline project was completed and delivered by South Australian contractors, with the first water harvested from the Gawler River in August, 2016.

“Water has always been a precious resource in South Australia, being the driest state in the driest inhabited continent on Earth,” Light Regional Council CEO Brian Carr said.

“With the emergence of climate change upon us, we cannot take for granted that water will always be available from the River Murray, at scale.

“The Bunyip Water scheme was an opportunity for us to develop a bespoke, innovative and sustainable solution with one of Australia’s most iconic wine businesses. Key to the success of this was trust, a foundation we immediately found with the team at Seppeltsfield, and evident every step of the way.”

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