WATER SECURITY

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:13): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Mineral Resources Development, representing the Minister for Water Security, a question on the issue of the government's water security priorities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: The latest Murray-Darling Basin Authority drought update released today is depressingly grim. Inflows between January and March of 140 gigalitres were the lowest in 117 years, falling below the previous low of 150 gigalitres during the first three months of 2007, so there is no doubt that we are in a water crisis. On the weekend the senior adviser on water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Maude Barlow, was in Adelaide to speak at a water forum organised by an impressive range of community groups and to visit the Salisbury wetlands, Port Stanvac and the Cheltenham racecourse, as well as the Lower Lakes.

Maude Barlow is a pre-eminent international expert on water, with an impressive resume including 16 books and numerous global awards. One of Ms Barlow's key messages is that we should not be investing in three particular technologies to try to get us out of our water mess. She called them the three Ds: dams, desalination and diversion. Yet, when we look at the government's water security priorities for Adelaide we see little else other than the three Ds: dams (such as the Mount Bold reservoir expansion); desalination (such as the Port Stanvac plant); and diversion (such as the continued pumping of River Murray water almost 100km to Adelaide and the likely damming of Australia's greatest river through the Wellington weir in order to shore up this supply.

At the recent national water summit in Canberra, at which Maude Barlow was the keynote speaker, water security minister Karlene Maywald said that the Rann government was spending $3 billion on securing Adelaide's water future. Once you factor in $1 billion for the Mount Bold reservoir expansion, $1.4 billion for the Port Stanvac desalination plant, $400 million for the north-south metro network transfer pipeline, plus works associated with the Wellington weir, we are left with little or nothing to spend on stormwater or other more sustainable options. In addition, the government's preferred next step is the doubling of the Port Stanvac desalination plant, with the Premier stating that he has requested a $400 million grant from the federal government to increase the plant from 50 to 100 gigalitres capacity. My questions are:

1. Did the minister, the Premier, or any other minister or state government representative meet with or speak to Maude Barlow while she was in South Australia?

2. Is the proposed Mount Bold expansion still central to the government's plans to increase the size of Mount Lofty Ranges storage?

3. Out of the $3 billion committed for water security mentioned by minister Maywald at the national water summit, what percentage will be spent on stormwater harvesting?

4. Will the next state water security plan (which I understand is due in June) continue to prioritise the three Ds technology at the expense of demand management, stormwater recycling and aquifer storage and recovery; and will it include a plan to wean Adelaide off the River Murray?

5. How much will it cost to double the size of the Port Stanvac desalination plant?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:16): The honourable member has asked a number of questions for particular information. I will refer those to the Minister for Water Security in another place and bring back a reply.