Public Works Committee: Warooka and Point Turton Water Supply Upgrade Project

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:38): I move:

That the 571^st report of the committee, entitled Warooka and Point Turton Water Supply Upgrade Project, be noted.

The water supply in the Warooka and Point Turton area is sourced from the Para-Wurlie Basin—

An honourable member: Well done.

Ms DIGANCE: —thank you; good work star—in the south of Yorke Peninsula. SA Water has determined that this is no longer a viable option for the region, as the basin is no longer a sustainable source of potable water. As such, SA Water cannot guarantee a reliable water supply to current and future customers.

SA Water proposes to connect the area to a water supply from the River Murray, with a 38.5-kilometre pipeline to be constructed that connects the Minlacowie and Warooka tanks. In addition, a 1.25-kilometre pipeline will be constructed to connect the township at Point Turton. There will also be some associated infrastructure works, such as the booster pump station and the chlorine booster pump, as well as ancillary works.

The cost of these works is estimated at $13.146 million (excluding GST), which will be incurred over three financial years, between 2016-17 and 2018-19. Works are due to commence as soon as practicable and should be completed by the end of 2018—in time for the Christmas holiday season. It should be noted that there is a significant fluctuation in the demand for water in this region due to the influx of holidaymakers over the summer and school holiday periods.

Key stakeholders, including the Yorke Peninsula Council, the local member for Goyder and the community, are supportive of the proposed project and the investment in local infrastructure. Stakeholders, including the Narungga Nations people and local landholders affected by these works, will be consulted throughout the project.

I thank my fellow committee members on the Public Works Committee and also the executive and administrative staff of the committee. Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:40): Can I also offer congratulations, as did the member for Flinders, when they are due. There is no doubt on this, although the project came as a bit of a surprise but, I must say, a very welcome one. It was only a few days after the budget was presented that the Minister for Water wrote to me regarding an announcement on the 38.5 kilometres of pipeline and the $30 million expenditure by SA Water.

I was grateful that Public Works invited me to attend the briefing provided by SA Water staff and gave me an opportunity to ask a few questions, without knowing what the full scope of the project was at that time. I have been very pleased since. Subsequently, I have had a briefing from SA Water staff who provided a map of the area that the pipeline is to traverse, and indeed—and this was a very important factor for me—I have been assured that the capacity of the increased amount of water that is going to be in the network will provide not just for existing customers, which is all of Warooka and about a quarter of the community of Point Turton, which is on the coast and very much a growing community on Yorke Peninsula, but for another 650 or so customers.

To me, that is very exciting because it provides an opportunity for future negotiations and discussions to occur about providing water to potentially all the Point Turton township and has the capacity for future growth to occur. It will require some serious discussions because a high level of infrastructure investment is required. Having met with the CEO of Yorke Peninsula Council in recent weeks, I suggested that this could be a project that the council could pursue.

I have a history of having been the CEO of the council at the time it brought a reticulated SA Water potable water supply to two coastal communities by extending the main from an existing SA Water network, so it can be done, but you have to go out there and discuss it with the communities. It will come at a cost. It is normally repaid over a 10-year period, but it is an example of where significant investment from SA Water, supported by the government in this case and by property owners contributing towards expansion opportunities, provides a long-term benefit.

I want to put on the record my profound thanks to SA Water for pursuing this. I believe that it stems from some work done close to seven or eight years ago when SA  Water appointed a long-term water planning committee; I believe that one was also appointed on Eyre Peninsula in about the same time frame. That committee was chaired by the previous mayor of Yorke Peninsula Council, the late Mr Robert Schulze. It looked at all the needs of the peninsula, as it was and at the projected growth area and at the fact that there were 16 communities on Yorke Peninsula that did not have an SA Water-supplied reticulated water supply. I have no doubt that this project comes from that.

I commend the member for Elder for her pronunciation of the communities and of the Para-Wurlie Basin. This has been somewhat of a challenge, and there is a need to ensure supply opportunities to the existing customers. SA Water has looked at it, as they should, done some forward planning and resolved, with board support, the $13 million in expenditure. My hope also is that by Christmas 2018 we not only have in place this infrastructure but that we have already commenced some negotiations about some expansion opportunities.

I recognise that it comes at the use of River Murray water and replacing the Para-Wurlie Basin supply that has been the supplier in the past. To some people's minds that is challenging. I know it depends upon the seasonal conditions, and I know that the more challenging times we are having in these decades create a lot of anxiety, but in some ways I also think that this is part of the reason behind some of the significant investment in the desalination plant South Australia now benefits from. It still provides scope for surety of supply and, indeed, opportunities for an expansion of supply. This is a good project. My thanks go to the Public Works Committee. I look forward to the swift commencement of the on-ground works and the completion before Christmas 2018.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:45): Thank you to the member for Goyder for his words of support on this project. With that, I recommend that this house notes the report.

Motion carried.