Ministerial Statement

WATER SECURITY

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Small Business, Minister Assisting the Minister for Industry and Trade) (17:08): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: The Premier earlier stated that this past year has been one of unprecedented commitment to infrastructure investment to ensure the state's future water security. In fact, $2.5 billion has been committed to desalination, increased water storage and an interconnector. We already use some 20 per cent of our treated waste water, the highest of any capital city across Australia, and projects to make greater use of this water are currently under way.

The current drought continues to ravage South Australia. All South Australians are feeling the devastating effects of this drought, none more so than our farmers and irrigators. The state government has a statewide drought response. Through this work we have a clear vision for our water future and programs in place to assist our River Murray-dependent communities to manage very difficult circumstances. Some of the achievements in the past year have been:

The $5 million Milang to Clayton pipeline was completed in December 2007 and is now supplying potable water.

A new $2 million pipeline began delivering filtered water to the Jervois community in November last year.

Infrastructure works to lower the offtakes on SA Water's pumping stations along the River Murray are under way.

Six unregulated and 27 regulated wetlands have been disconnected from the river to prevent evaporation, a saving of around 48 gigalitres of water so far.

Metered standpipes have been installed at Meningie, Hindmarsh Island, Milang and Goolwa North to allow quicker filling of water tankers for stock and domestic supply.

In less than a year we have delivered a major $50 million project to ensure high quality filtered water for 17 communities along the River Murray. The project has involved the construction of nine water treatment plants and six pipelines to deliver filtered water to these communities.

The potential of the impact of the drought on water quality in the River Murray and our reservoirs is a major concern, and we are undertaking numerous proactive steps to manage water quality issues, in particular, blue-green algae and acid sulphate soils.

The Hon. Dean Brown and the Hon. Neil Andrew were appointed as community liaison managers, and I would like to congratulate both of them on their recent Australia Day awards. They were appointed to work with river communities and government agencies both below and above Lock 1, highlighting their issues and helping them to cope with the impacts of the drought.

However, responding to the drought requires more than infrastructure. There are many social consequences that responsible governments must manage. We have, therefore, also implemented an extensive River Murray drought communications and community engagement program, and thousands have attended numerous meetings and workshops to discuss concerns and possible drought response measures.

We have renegotiated the Murray-Darling Basin water sharing rules to ensure that South Australia's critical needs of 201 gigalitres to supply Adelaide and country towns and private stock and domestic needs are met, and a guaranteed delivery of our 696 gigalitres of dilution flows for the next water year (2008-09). We have waived transfer fees for purchase of top-up restricted River Murray water allocations. We have provided concessions on irrigator NRM levies, and we have introduced a carryover scheme for unused River Murray water allocations, which allows irrigators to carry over water for use in 2008-09.

Other significant infrastructure projects across the state are providing water security to South Australians for the future.

The $21.5 million project to replace the ageing Torrens aqueduct with a 3.5 kilometre pipeline is nearing completion.

Country waste water treatment plants have also come under the spotlight, with a $34 million new plant constructed at Victor Harbor and upgrades at Port Pirie and Whyalla waste water treatment plants.

The $48.5 million Eyre Peninsula pipeline from Lock to Kimba was completed last year, and is now delivering an additional resource to the peninsula to help ease pressure on groundwater resources and allow flexibility in managing water across the Eyre Peninsula.

We have spent more than $54 million on upgrades in recent years to ensure that our water storages meet the Australian National large dams regulations. Three of our key storages, Happy Valley ($20 million), Millbrook ($7 million) and Hope Valley ($8.5 million) have already undergone upgrades, and a $15 million upgrade will be undertaken on the Little Para reservoir. The reuse water storage, Hindmarsh Valley reservoir near Victor Harbor, also underwent a $4 million upgrade, which was completed last year.

None of us can predict local rainfall, nor what improvement, if any, there will be in the Murray-Darling Basin water resource outlook. We are facing significant challenges in managing our water resources, and we are facing them head on. All South Australians are sharing in the responsibility of conserving our water resources, and I must congratulate the majority of South Australians who are doing the right thing. The state government will continue to be proactive in dealing with this drought, and also managing for longer term sustainability.