They just have to collect it themselves when it falls on their roof, and when their collection process is inadequate because of drought, they truck it in from someone with a dam. Sure there is a cost, but so is there a cost to reticulated water. Those of us who have it pay for it. We are just a little less involved in its collection. The report quotes complaints that water in rural Australia is too expensive.
Water is a commodity, just like fruit and vegetables and fuels.
It is more expensive in some areas than others, and just as well. This sends a message that there is a cost to collect and store it which discourages overuse. It is a scandal that for years governments have subsidized the price of water in the bush, particularly in irrigation. The result of this has been overuse resulting in destruction of waterways and natural habitat, and salination of good cropping land. There is a whiff in this report that people should be paid to live in the bush because they have a right to live there.