House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Water Security WATER SECURITY Mr WILLIAMS House of Assembly MacKillop WATER SECURITY Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:27): My question is again to the Minister for Water Security. Why did the government consult the public about two options for the winter storage dam at Aldinga when it had already made a decision on one of the options? A public meeting at Willunga clearly endorsed the completion of the winter storage dam option, yet the government failed to complete this project, which would have enabled 740 megalitres of recycled wastewater to be stored, to be substituted by Willunga Basin irrigators for the drinkable water which they are currently using. The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD House of Assembly Chaffey Minister for the River Murray Minister for Water Security WATER SECURITY The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (15:28): I think the member is referring to a project where SA Water is working with the Willunga Basin Water Company. We have committed to building some storage capacity as part of the Waterproofing the South project that we are making available to the Willunga Basin Water Company, until the projects that are involved in the Waterproofing the South come online. We will be working with the Willunga Basin Water Company over the coming years to make sure it can meet the needs of its customers. In this project the dam was commenced before winter. It rained, and we have not been able to finish it on time, because it has rained. It usually does in winter. An honourable member interjecting: The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD House of Assembly The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: The 'member for buckets' has made a very good observation here, but the problem is that we are actually in a drought. We have been in a drought for a long time, and is it not wonderful to see the rain? The only people I know who are opposed to the rain are the members of the opposition. Not only are they opposed to the rain; they also are opposed to getting any projects up and running. The McLaren Vale community and irrigators are very important to this state. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD House of Assembly The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: This state government is committed to working through the issues that we have had in the past in relation to resolving some of the storage issues, resolving some of the water supply issues and to increasing access to the treated stormwater in the south. We are committed to doing that. What has happened with this particular dam is that there are two options. We could provide storage at half the capacity with the construction that is currently completed or we could go on and complete the construction and the full capacity would be available later on. We are working with the Willunga Basin Water Company, which is the partner with SA Water in delivering that water to customers. We have asked them to tell us which option they want. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD House of Assembly The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: I really do think that it is important that the company that is going to be delivering that water be consulted on whether they— Ms Chapman interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: If the member for Bragg has a question, there is an orderly way to do it. The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD House of Assembly The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: We actually have a commitment to supplying more treated effluent water to the McLaren Vale irrigation community. We have committed $1 million to support the $3 million that the federal government has committed for extra connections. We have committed to extra storage and making that available to the irrigation community. We have committed to trials which have now become reality in the longer term for managed aquifer recharge and re-use. Those projects are currently happening. They are underway and they are going to be able to provide water to that irrigation community for the next irrigation season. There is no spin in that. They are actually projects that are currently happening. They are happening. They are facts: an MAR scheme and extra storage. Yes, we would have liked to have the complete storage completed. We did come up against some construction issues. Yes, there have been some issues in the past in relation to an interaction between SA Water and the McLaren Vale irrigators. There have been some issues in relation to what the expected timelines for delivery of water storage has been and what has actually been delivered. Yes, those are issues that we are continuing to work through with that community, but our commitment is to that community and actually increasing treated water re-use. I think that is a good objective and that is the one that this government will continue to work towards.