Legislative Council Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2) 51 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Desalination Plants DESALINATION PLANTS The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY Legislative Council Leader of the Opposition DESALINATION PLANTS The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): Is the minister saying that, as part of the cabinet of this government, he has signed off on a $2.5 billion expenditure yet he has no idea where the water is to be stored? The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning DESALINATION PLANTS The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:24): The reason the government is seriously considering extra storage— The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting: The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: As I said, I am not the minister responsible but, as the Leader of the Government in this place, I will provide an answer. At present I think we have a maximum of eight months (the Hon. Gail Gago probably knows more about this), or less than a year in our reservoir system. In other parts of Australia such as Victoria, where they have closed catchments, I think it is in the order of two years. If we are to have greater water security to enable us to get over periods of prolonged water shortage, which we may face in the future, and to weather those droughts, we obviously need more storage capacity. The Hon. D.W. Ridgway Legislative Council The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Where does the water come from? The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: From where it does in other catchments. Enough water falls on Adelaide—200 gigalitres of rain falls on Adelaide every year. Of course, we have had two years of the lowest flows in recorded history in the River Murray, but there will be years— The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting: The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, it is a matter of debate whether it is a one in one hundred year or a one in one thousand year drought. The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting: The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, it is, but there is also the issue as to what extent global warming and so on is affecting it. For the purposes of this question, the point is that, like other cities in Australia, this city needs more water capacity. If the River Murray becomes less reliable—and it has become less reliable—then clearly we need a longer term water supply within our catchments, and one of the ways to do that is to increase the size. When that water is available, whether you have high rainfall events within the catchment or whether the River Murray is flowing as it normally would, you can make sure that the reservoir is full so that you can endure those years when you have low rainfall, and that is exactly why it is being considered. As was indicated by, I think, the Hon. Mark Parnell in a supplementary question, obviously there are a whole lot of environmental issues in relation to that and a whole lot of further work needs to be done. That is why the government is studying the process, because we do not have the capacity within our reservoirs as other cities do; it is less than a year. If we had something like two years then it would give us much greater security in the event that we have the sorts of conditions that we have faced in the past two years.