Public Works Committee: Eyre Peninsula Desalination Plant

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (11:21): On behalf of the member for Florey, I move:

That the 113^th report of the committee, entitled Eyre Peninsula Desalination Plant Project, be noted.

Presently, SA Water draws 75 per cent of its water supply for Eyre Peninsula from the Uley South groundwater basin. The basin has gradually depleted towards historic low levels and, due to an ongoing decline of health, cannot sustain long-term groundwater extraction rates. The Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board, supported by the Department for Environment and Water, is currently performing a water allocation review, and a new allocation plan is anticipated to come into effect next year. The plan is expected to include a significant decrease to SA Water's allocated groundwater extraction limits from the basin, affecting water supply security for residents, agriculture and industry in the region.

An independent economic assessment of water restriction scenarios, based on the water allocation review, identified that the potential negative impacts of phased water restrictions could amount to more than $100 million per year, posing significant risk to local industries. To overcome this, the agency examined several solutions. The first option would augment water supply from alternative groundwater sources, which was dismissed as no suitable resources are able to meet this demand.

The second option would augment supply with surface water options, which again was dismissed as no suitable rivers or lakes exist in the region. The third option investigated supply from the River Murray. This option was dismissed due to excessive costs as well as the increased pressure it would exert on a climate-dependent resource. The final and preferred option augments supply through building a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant, providing a suitable long-term solution to provide climate-independent water security while reducing groundwater dependency.

Based on preliminary designs, SA Water has allocated $330 million for this project and will aim to deliver the plant by the middle of next year to minimise the potential negative economic impacts from the anticipated future water restrictions. The proposed works will construct a new 5.3 gigalitres per annum reverse osmosis desalination plant, as well as the necessary associated infrastructure, including:

a drinking water transfer pipeline to the nearby North Side Hill tank site, where it will connect with the existing SA Water distribution network;

the plant's associated marine works and infrastructure, including the seawater intake and saline discharge outfall pipelines; and

an overhead electricity connection.

Ultimately, this project will provide a climate-independent water supply to SA Water's Eyre Peninsula customers, improving water quality and supporting economic growth in the region for residential, primary production and industry customers.

The proposed location for the plant is at Billy Lights Point near Port Lincoln, and the seawater and outfall pump station will be located within the existing Port Lincoln Wastewater Treatment Plant. The majority of the electricity connection and drinking water pipeline will be constructed in existing road corridors; however, some sections will pass through easements within privately owned land.

Construction is anticipated to commence within the first quarter of this year, with the aim for the works to be practically complete in the third quarter of 2026. The project will be delivered through a series of work packages overseen by an integrated team comprising SA Water employees and appropriate specialists. Design, engineering and construct contracts are being awarded via tender processes and the agency is working with SA Power Networks to design and construct the electricity connection lines.

The project is being managed in accordance with SA Water's corporate project management methodology. The oversight team is responsible for the development and delivery of the project, including seeking the necessary approvals and managing the selected contractors. The agency utilises a business management policy and framework, which is used to identify and mitigate risk. Key risks identified include:

operational impact to the wastewater treatment during construction, for which there will be close coordination to minimise impacts to ongoing operations;

pressure for works to be complete next year, for which the agency will implement strategies to maximise constructability and minimise construction times; and

the potential for contractor costs to exceed budget, for which an independent estimator has been appointed and value engineering has been undertaken.

SA Water has embedded sustainability into construction and operation processes since project commencement. A preliminary environmental management plan has been prepared to ensure the project is delivered in compliance with relevant regulations, identifying risk, governing legislation, and specific management controls.

Initiatives include: commitment to a circular economy, maximisation of recycled and recyclable material, consideration of the durability of materials and components, design contractors working towards carbon neutrality, goals for 100 per cent green power for site office facilities, ensuring provisions for solar power, use of wastewater treatment and optimisation of rainwater harvesting, sustainable procurement practices, maximisation of plant operations efficiency, and a modular design to prepare for climate change adaptation. The contractor will also be required to establish an environmental management plan prior to the commencement of works.

The project is within the Barngarla determination area, but native title has been extinguished on land affected by the proposed works and does not exist in the relevant marine areas. The agency has conducted a desktop Aboriginal heritage assessment, including a search of the Register of Aboriginal Sites and Objects, which identified a number of sites near the wastewater treatment plant where associated works will require cultural heritage surveys. Assessment also identified a medium to moderate risk of encountering Aboriginal heritage, and the agency will follow its standard Aboriginal heritage management procedures.

The project will develop a cultural heritage management plan. Should any Aboriginal sites or items be found, work on the location will cease immediately and the SA Water Aboriginal Heritage and Engagement Advisor be contacted. The agency's environment and heritage advisers have noted there are six State Heritage Places, as well as one potential shipwreck, within two kilometres of the project sites, but the proposed works are not expected to impact any state heritage items.

A project reference group of local community, government and industry representatives was formed in 2023 to provide feedback to the agency concerning the progression of the project. The agency has also established a project information centre, website and dedicated point of contact to inform and update the wider community. The submission has been reviewed by relevant government departments and agencies, and feedback indicates support for the project subject to the necessary approvals.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the Eyre Peninsula Desalination Plant Project. Witnesses who appeared before the committee were Amanda Lewry, General Manager, Sustainable Infrastructure, SA Water, and Peter Seltsikas, Senior Manager, Capital Delivery, SA Water. I thank the witnesses for their time.

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 TELFER (Flinders) (11:28): I rise to speak on this Public Works Committee report on the Eyre Peninsula desalination plant and listened with interest to the words that were spoken. I think probably just as much of interest to me and my community is what was not said within the report on the Eyre Peninsula desalination plant. What was not said was that there continues to be significant community concern and opposition to the proposed location of this plant at Billy Lights Point.

For those who do not know the geography of Port Lincoln and the Boston Bay, and wider bay area around Port Lincoln, Billy Lights Point is right at the intersection between Boston Bay and Proper Bay. It is an area where there is very little water movement and it is an area where there is a close relationship between those waters and the existing aquaculture and fishing industries. This is why there has been continued concern from my community, from industry—both the aquaculture and fishing industry—about putting a desalination plant within an area of the bay at Port Lincoln which has very little water movement and has very little opportunity for that water to be refreshed and flushed out, and they have been strident in their concerns for a number of years.

None of this has been mentioned within the Public Works Committee report, but I do want to encourage anyone who is actually considering this project to read the report from the select committee inquiry into the Eyre Peninsula water supply, which was presented to this place, I believe this week. It covers aspects of the desalination plant project and also refers to other constraints around supply and distribution of water on Eyre Peninsula. You cannot look at water on EP just in the short period of time around this project in particular. You have to look at it as a whole and, once you have done your homework and done all your research, you realise that there is a high level of scepticism around what is said by government, and particularly by SA Water, on the part of the people of Eyre Peninsula, because they have been failed many times before.

Another thing this project does not really speak about is the concerns that have been raised around the interaction between this proposed project and the existing aquaculture industries within the bay area. Those who know this area know there is a fine environmental balance within the bay area due to the constraints that I have already mentioned around the lack of water movement. Indeed, when tuna farming was first established in the area there was a significant investment and there was an environmental incident which caused significant deaths of the tuna within those farms and nearly wiped out the industry, because of the lack of movement and the aggregation of nutrients and the like within the water. That caused that industry to have to change a lot of the arrangements and locations. It is with this in mind that the community of Eyre Peninsula are always very aware of that environmental balance within the bay area.

This is a $330 million project. If it goes ahead at this dollar figure it will be the equivalent biggest capital investment into the southern Eyre Peninsula in history. There are still so many questions that are unanswered for my community. As part of the report that was just presented to us they did briefly discuss the Barngarla corporation and the indigenous heritage aspect of this project. What it does not say in this report is that, indeed, the Barngarla corporation wrote to the Premier near on a year and a half ago and they said under no circumstances would they come to an Aboriginal heritage agreement with the government on this site—under no circumstances. This was ventilated 18 months ago.

A few of the words that were put in here really do highlight the hypocrisy of the way the government has dealt with this, particularly when you look at it compared to other projects where they have heeded the knowledge of the Barngarla people. With the recently shelved project at Kimba, for instance, the Premier in the media, in public, stated categorically that he believed if the Barngarla people say it should not happen here, it should not happen here. But then in this project they say it should not happen at Billy Lights Point and this government is continuing to push on with it.

There is nothing in this report that actually highlights any risks around what potential legal challenges there could be to construction of a desalination plant at Billy Lights Point. Indeed, in the committee I asked SA Water what they had factored in as far as additional challenges to delivery timeframes for any potential legal challenges. They decided that they could not talk about hypotheticals so they would not put these sorts of calculations into what they are doing.'

But this is a $330 million project. If you do not take into account what I believe is a high risk of there being a legal challenge and what impact that could have on the amount that you have to spend and the timeframes that you have to deliver this project, you are not doing your due diligence. Only time will tell whether there will be a challenge to these. As I have already mooted, nearly 18 months ago the Barngarla corporation wrote to the Premier with their concerns, and time will tell what their response to this project continuing on will be.

There is no doubt that there is a significant and immediate need for appropriate planning of water supply and distribution on Eyre Peninsula. The select committee report was actually published unanimously. The government, opposition and crossbench members all agreed after listening to all the submissions that came into that committee. In the comprehensive report that they put together, they all agreed on the same points. As I said, I would encourage people to reflect on that because the risk for Eyre Peninsula, after this report has highlighted some of those supply challenges, is that there are delays and other challenges that go with this project.

For the people on Eyre Peninsula, there is no immediate alternative because SA Water have not put any efforts into trying to work out what plan B or plan C might be. In late 2023, I wrote to the Premier directly with my concerns as the local MP about what I saw as the challenges, the roadblocks, the hurdles for this project, including the community concerns, the concerns of industry, aquaculture and fishing and the concerns of the Indigenous community about this location.

As SA Water have gone through this process, there have been a lot of times when they had the opportunity to be able to reflect on the location of this project. There was a site selection committee that was put together with industry, local government and community leaders that had Billy Lights Point as its least preferred location for this project. Those concerns were ignored. There were opportunities through the community consultation process, and I use that term very lightly because there have been seemingly no changes to the project based on that community consultation.

With a $330 million project, you would hope that the experts that are delivering this project would have insight into some of the basics of what this might be. In the committee, I asked, 'How far away is the intake pipe for the desalination plant from the wastewater outfall from Port Lincoln?' It is something you would think is pretty basic. My community has said that if this project is going ahead at Billy Lights Point to please make the outfall further out into flowing water and make sure the intake does not impact aquaculture.

We did not even get an answer on the day. They did not even have that with them. We eventually got it back on notice. There is a separation distance of approximately 550 metres between the intake of the desalination plant and the outfall of the wastewater plant at Port Lincoln—550 metres only. This is an area of very little water movement. Then I asked about the outfalls of the two sites. There is only 750 metres between the desalination plant outfall and the wastewater treatment plant outfall.

In the bay of Port Lincoln, where there is very little water movement, you can see why my community is concerned about what the long-term environmental and economic impacts are going to be if SA Water do not adjust to try to make sure that they are listening to the concerns of my community when it comes to this project that is being put forward in this report.

Motion carried.