House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Answers to Questions Stormwater Diversion STORMWATER DIVERSION Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Waite Leader of the Opposition STORMWATER DIVERSION 145 Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (30 September 2008). What plans does the government have to divert stormwater going into the gulf from Glenelg, West Beach and other stormwater systems into wetlands for reuse, has consideration been given to reclaiming the Cheltenham racecourse site as a wetlands filtering system and has the state government applied to the federal government for funding of such infrastructure works? The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD House of Assembly Chaffey Minister for the River Murray Minister for Water Security STORMWATER DIVERSION The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security): I am advised that the South Australian government supports the capture and harvesting of stormwater where it is appropriate and cost-effective to do so. The government's Water Proofing Adelaide strategy sets a goal to increase total stormwater use in the Adelaide area to 20,000 megalitres per year by 2025, which is equivalent to about 10 per cent of Adelaide’s mains water use. Wetlands are not the only means for encouraging increased use of stormwater. The rainwater tank policy for new homes, together with uptake from the rainwater tank and plumbing rebate scheme being administered by SA Water encourages increased rainwater use at the site level. Other important stormwater reuse projects include Water Proofing Northern Adelaide, which when completed is expected to reduce ocean outfall through Barker Inlet by 20,000 megalitres per year, and the Metropolitan Adelaide Stormwater Reuse project, which will harvest up to 1,000 megalitres per year. The Water Proofing Northern Adelaide project, for which the proponents are the cities of Salisbury, Playford and Tea Tree Gully, and the Metropolitan Stormwater Reuse project, are receiving commonwealth support. The Cheltenham racecourse site has been identified for its potential to accommodate a stormwater wetland and aquifer storage and recovery system (ASR) to harvest stormwater for reuse. The government has indicated that it is prepared to invest up to $5 million towards creating the open space for local people, which will include a wetlands, stormwater and aquifer storage system. The Land Management Corporation (on behalf of government) is currently working with the City of Charles Sturt and the developer to prepare concept plans for, and undertake the design of, the wetlands and ASR system. Should the ultimate system meet the eligibility criteria for federal funding, then an application for funding would be made.