Parliamentary Committees

Public Works Committee: Monarto Augmentation Pump Stations Program

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:03): I move:

That the 76^th report of the committee, entitled Monarto Augmentation Pump Stations Program, be noted.

The South Australian Water Corporation (SA Water) proposed to replace an existing pump station at White Hill, as well as construct a new pump station adjacent to the old Princes Highway at Monarto, to ensure a reliable water supply to existing customers and support growth in the Monarto region.

The Monarto region, just west of the Murray River, has experienced steady growth in recent years, with demand from the water supply system doubling between 2010 and 2020. The area is serviced by an existing pump station at White Hill, located on Adelaide Road at Murray Bridge. It is currently operating at full capacity for extended periods and is unable to provide reliable levels, particularly during peak summer periods, resulting in customers experiencing reduced water flow and pressure.

With demand expected to grow over the next 30 years, from both residential and commercial expansion, the current system cannot sustain the expected levels of service to customers and requires an upgrade. The project has two key aims: the first is to support the long-term viability of services and sustain delivery of reliable baseline services for existing customers, and the second is to enable growth by supporting an expanded network that can meet increasing demand in the area.

To achieve these aims, the project will construct a replacement pump station at White Hill, and an additional new pump station in Monarto South. This will be a new, single pump model arrangement and will actively minimise potential environmental risks as it provides an optimal footprint within the available land. It is a standard pump model used across different SA Water sites, thus allowing increased interchangeability for spare parts and reducing the need for extensive stockholding of parts.

This simplifies maintenance and operational procedures and contributes to cost-effectiveness over the project's life cycle. Through this single pump system, the project will ensure a reliable water supply to existing customers and reduce complexity in the delivery and ongoing operation of the pump station through a common design approach.

The capital cost of the project is $17.2 million, with $9.3 million for the replacement pump station at White Hill and $7.9 million for the new pump at Old Princes Highway. Construction recently began this month and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2026. The replacement pump station at White Hill will be built adjacent to the existing site, on a road reserve owned by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport. The proposed site for the new pump station will be on a part of land on the Old Princes Highway and will be acquired in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act.

The project will be managed in accordance with SA Water's corporate project management methodology by a project manager from SA Water's capital planning and delivery group. A business risk management policy will be used to identify risks, determine their related impacts and likelihood, develop mitigation strategies, and take steps to remedy problems. One project risk is an increased footprint impacting upon local native vegetation. This will be mitigated by a design that reduces the project's footprint.

Another risk is potential network isolation issues and service disruptions that may occur during link-in activities. This will be minimised through detailed planning, effective coordination, and impact assessments for shutdowns. All project risks will be logged and monitored in a live risk database and addressed as appropriate by the team throughout the project.

SA Water has a commitment to operating sustainably to support viability now and into the future. An environmental control plan has been prepared to ensure that the project is delivered in compliance with relevant legislative frameworks. In compliance with the Native Vegetation Act, tree-damaging activity will be limited and the project will implement procedures to protect the roots of significant trees and ensure that the locations of any laydown areas are away from native vegetation. Machinery and equipment used in the area will be cleaned to make sure that they are free of soil and weeds to prevent the transport and spread of declared weeds under the Landscape South Australia Act.

As there are elevated levels of arsenic and nickel in the soil where works will take place, the soil will be monitored for discolouration or odour and contaminated soil will be effectively stockpiled. Regarding water flow, sediment and drainage management, all reasonable and practical measures will be implemented to prevent pollution and environmental harm. Construction and laydown zones will be appropriately established to minimise the potential for surface run-off to enter the site, alongside controls used to minimise potential for run-off to leave the site. Stockpile and laydown areas will be designated away from drainage lines or low-lying areas, while disturbed or unsealed areas will be compacted, backfilled and resurfaced as soon as possible.

The project has been assessed by an Aboriginal heritage adviser and given a medium risk of impacting or encountering heritage, as SA Water recognises that any ground-disturbing activity presents a risk of encountering Aboriginal objects or remains. In the unlikely event of heritage being uncovered, the project will follow SA Water's standard operating procedures for the discovery of Aboriginal heritage, with work ceasing immediately and an Aboriginal heritage and engagement adviser being contacted.

The project lies within the Ngarrindjeri native title claim area. SA Water has been advised that native title is extinguished across all areas of road reserve and land parcels where the construction of both pump stations are planned. All works related to the project are contained within parcels, the road or road reserves where native title considerations do not apply.

Communication with relevant stakeholders is ongoing and will continue throughout the project. Engagement with the landowner involved with land acquisition will continue over the life of the project, and further consultation with adjacent landowners will be ongoing to manage and minimise construction impacts. Consultation will also occur with the Rural City of Murray Bridge.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the Monarto augmentation pump stations program. Witnesses who appeared before the committee were Mario Borrello, the Portfolio Manager for SA Water, and Maria Nordberg, the Senior Project Manager, SA Water. I thank the witnesses for their time.

I would also like to thank the member for Hammond for his statement to the committee regarding this project in his electorate. Based upon the evidence considered, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public work.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:10): I rise to support this Public Works Committee reference into the Monarto augmentation pump stations upgrade project. This is a much-needed project that has been going for several weeks now in the Murray Bridge-Monarto area. I have certainly noticed the works being done and, I think, generally completed next to the main SA Water tank adjacent the access to the freeway at White Hill.

I commend SA Water for investing $17.2 million into this project. It is much needed and I think into the future there will be much more need for more water augmentation, as we are seeing right across the state with the growing pains of Adelaide, and certainly our area will be directly impacted by the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan. Murray Bridge, Monarto and Callington are certainly front of centre with that.

I want to go back into history for a little while first. We go back over 50 years, when former Premier Dunstan proposed Monarto as the new satellite city for this state. It was a visionary thought, but I think the government at the time should have come another 15 kilometres up the road and expanded on Murray Bridge. I think the idea certainly had merit. It caused a lot of unrest at the time with farm acquisitions. Many farms were acquired for the Monarto satellite city project back in the late 1960s or early 1970s, and then we saw that that all fell over.

As I said to the committee, one bright thing that has happened out of that is we have the world-acclaimed Monarto Safari Park that has come in its place. At the moment, it has some new accommodation not far off being opened. It is a great open area safari park/zoo that gets so many visitors—thousands and thousands of visitors—every year and is doing great work. One thing I will say is I do commend the fact that they are finally getting elephants. It was three, and now it is five. I have been campaigning about the elephants for Monarto for a long time, and I am really pleased they are coming.

A lot of the issue with water in Monarto stems from what happened after what were farms were sold back as blocks. Generally a lot of 100-acre blocks—or 40-hectare is the metric term—were sold to people, and these became essentially lifestyle blocks in the Monarto region. What has happened with that development is that there have been a lot of fragmented water lines right throughout the Monarto area. A lot of indirect lines have been put in place, where you will have one metre and then there will be a lot of offtakes from that one line. There could be six, 10 or a dozen people off that one line, and they have an arrangement in place to either have their own private meters or just split it on a percentage basis. So it is not ideal.

As I said earlier, noting the issues we have with being so far behind with SA Water connections now right around the state, it needs a massive uplift. I think it is about a billion and a half dollars to get us where we need to be with the proposed growth over time, especially with the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan and the part that Murray Bridge through to Monarto and Callington will play over the decades to come. It will play a significant part in that growth plan. We probably have room for up to 8,000 dwellings with the appropriate rezoning done inside the boundaries of the Rural City of Murray Bridge.

The one good thing is that whoever the government of the day is, they will have no challenge in finding developers who want to build out there. I am aware of two developers and, between them, they probably want to build 25,000 homes in that area, so that is well regarded. There is a lot of work to do in that area, so I welcome any augmentation works that can be done, such as pump station upgrades and the new pump station that has gone in, which is $17.2 million worth of work. Somewhere down the track, there is probably going to need to be a lot more work done.

The beauty of it is that we are certainly close to the river if there has to be a major upgrade, noting that obviously, from where we are located, there is the Murray Bridge to Adelaide pipe and the Mannum to Adelaide pipe as well, so we are close to the source of the water and close to a lot of the delivery with the major pipelines in place. There certainly will need to be a lot of work into the future over time. This work is much needed and will alleviate a lot of water issues with the growing population already around Monarto and the White Hill area, but there is a lot more to come. I commend the project.

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:17): I take this opportunity to again thank the member for Hammond, not only for his support of this project but for taking the time to make sure that everyone in this chamber is fully informed about his region.

Motion carried.