Water pollution is covered by a number of Acts including the Environment Protection Act 1993 (SA) and the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (SA).

Under the Environment Protection Act 1993 (SA), the sections relating to the protection of the environment (such as the General Environmental Duty [s 25] or the offence provisions) apply equally to air, water, noise or other types of pollution. The Act also makes special provision for protection of water quality in water protection areas. The Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015, made under the Act, aims to improve the quality of water and water usage through legislated standards, guidelines and practice codes.

The Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (SA) aims to promote sustainable and integrated management of the State's natural resources and to make provision for the protection of the State's natural resources. It provides for the protection and management of catchments and the sustainable use of water resources and seeks to try and restore degraded water resources. It is now one of the key pieces of legislation with regard to water pollution, setting out general rights in relation to water and the control of activities affecting water. It also provides for enforcement, such that any person guilty of a breach of the Act can be charged and face penalties in the criminal jurisdiction of the Environment, Resources and Development Court of South Australia [s 231, see also Landscape South Australia (General) Regulations 2020 SA]