Question Time

WATER SECURITY

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:26): Given yesterday's announcement by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority that only 12 months of critical human needs water remains in storage, can the Premier guarantee that there is sufficient water within the Murray system itself to enable the delivery of South Australia's critical human needs water at the appropriate water quality to our pumping stations for the next year?

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (14:27): The drought is continuing and there are difficulties with the amount of water that is available and the competing needs. One thing we can guarantee is that South Australia has reserved enough water for next year's critical human needs. We have our 201 gigalitres for next year in the bank, so to speak. It is in the dams, and it has been accumulated this year during the month by month improvements that have been received into the system and purchases we have made out of the basin.

At the beginning of the year there will be a shortfall under current worst case scenarios in relation to the amount of delivery water needed for the 12 month period if we were to rely on just the water in the dams and minimum inflows, so the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the jurisdictions have negotiated contingencies to back up, including tributary water from New South Wales and Victoria and also Snowy releases of other water that will be made available should inflows not improve sufficiently to deliver the water.