It comes as Kingston Road at Moorook was closed to all vehicles from 7am today – light vehicles will now need to detour via Drogemuller Road and Heinrich Road to and from the Sturt Highway.

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport said it has been closely monitoring and managing the now closed road, allowing it to be kept open longer than had been anticipated.

“This road now needs to be closed to all vehicles for the safety of road users as water encroaches on the road and to allow the District Council of Loxton and Waikerie to construct a levee bank,” a statement read.

Meanwhile a section of Taylorville Road, adjacent Ross Lagoon and north of the Waikerie ferry, is still at risk of closure due to rising water levels and may need to be closed within the next week.

A detour via Goyder Highway and Devlins Pound Road will be in place to enable the Waikerie ferry to remain operational for light vehicles.

The state government announced it would ban all non-essential activity on the River Murray on Tuesday, with a local MP saying the move caused confusion in the community.

Liberal MP for Chaffey, Tim Whetstone told ABC radio it appears the government was ill-informed and that one tourism operator lost multiple bookings after the its announcement, despite not being required to shut.

“What we’ve seen is that there seems to be this communication barrier between Adelaide and the Riverland and my call has been that we need to have a better understanding about what is going on the ground here in the flood zone, rather than making decisions in Adelaide,” Whetstone said.

Shadow Minister for Water Resources and the River Murray, Nicola Centofanti, called on the Malinauskas government to expand its financial support for businesses.

“Confusing and chaotic messaging from the Malinauskas Labor Government regarding the shutdown of river activities has literally shut down a business operator overnight and who knows how many others will suffer because of this,” Centofanti said.

Following the initial announcement on Tuesday, Emergency Services Minister Joe Szakacs yesterday clarified that local tourism and charter boats would be able to continue operating.

All recreational boating and water activities are now banned on the River Murray between the SA border and Wellington to protect properties and infrastructure and for the safety of river goers and the local community.

Find out more at: https://t.co/M6BMRaRnNn pic.twitter.com/UcEWUvLXT6

— SA Infrastructure & Transport (@DFIT_SA) December 20, 2022

The State Emergency Service issued a separate warning about a levee failure in Toora yesterday, a small locality around 3km north of Murray Bridge.

“The Toora levee is failing and there is a risk of flood waters threatening the safety of people in the area,” the SES said.

“There is a high risk of flooding for low lying areas of Toora Road due to River Murray level rises.

“There is a chance you may become flooded or isolated if you are in low-lying areas of Toora.”

The Toora levee failure is the latest in a series of levee failures along the River Murray. SES chief officer Chris Beattie on Monday said eight levees had suffered “catastrophic” failures while a further 53 had “serious defects”.

Flood watch and act messages apply to every River Murray community in South Australia due to the rising water levels, which are expected to peak in the Riverland later this month.