EYRE PENINSULA WATER SUPPLY

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Water and the River Murray a question about Eyre Peninsula's drinking water supply.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: The Eyre Peninsula Demand and Supply Statement annual review 2012 stated that, based on current population growth and potential climate change impacts, demand for drinking quality water is projected to exceed supply by 2020-21, which is earlier than the 2010-11 annual review suggested.

The water department's executive director for sustainable water resources, Ms Julia Grant, stated on ABC Rural radio on 12 June that 'there has not been adequate rainfall to fully recharge aquifers on Eyre Peninsula'. However, the Natural Resources Committee's interim report for the Eyre Peninsula water supply suggested that there was evidence of extractions in previous decades which have resulted in a number of aquifers becoming degraded, thus compromising their ability to provide secure water supplies in the future.

In addition, a media release from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources stated that an independent planning process will be initiated by the minister in 2015-16 at the latest. My questions to the minister are:

1. What is the government's plan to ensure water extractions from the aquifers are not mismanaged, and how will the government restore the aquifers which are classified as degraded?

2. What consultation and research studies have the minister and his department initiated to develop an alternative water source, such as a desal plant?

3. With the demand for water expected to exceed supply over the next eight years, will the minister initiate the independent planning process as a priority?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:25): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. The Water for Good plan released in June 2009, I understand, aims to provide our state with the most secure water supply system in southern Australia. It outlines 94 actions to ensure our water supplies are secure, safe, diverse, reliable and able to sustain a growing population and a growing economy in a changing climate. The 94 actions apply throughout the state, and a vital component of the plan is the development of a detailed water demand and supply statement for every natural resource management region.

Action 64 of Water for Good outlines that regional impact demand and supply statements will be developed for each of the eight natural resource management regions throughout the state. The regional demand and supply statements completed to date include the Eyre Peninsula Demand and Supply Statement, which was released in April 2011, and the Northern and Yorke Demand and Supply Statement released in December 2011.

I understand that once developed the statements are reviewed each year, and in the event that a statement indicates a demand and supply imbalance, consistent with Water for Good action No. 3, an independent planning process will be initiated five years before the projected imbalance. The independent planning process will thoroughly assess supply augmentation and demand management opportunities. It is vitally important that we plan ahead, and we do this on an annual basis. We have set in place that, when it appears that demand will outstrip supply, we act and call on that five-year review.

I am advised that the Eyre Peninsula Demand and Supply Statement initially indicated that under a worst-case scenario of high population growth and climate change impacts demand for drinking quality water was projected to exceed the available supply in 2017-18. As a result of a range of key data updates, the 2011 annual review of the Eyre Peninsula Demand and Supply Statement, released in April 2012, indicated that, under a worst-case scenario of high population growth, demand for drinking water was projected to exceed supply in 2023-24, pushing back the date.

I am now advised that further key data updates that led to these revised demand and supply projections included the most recent climate change report released in 2012, showing that the impact of climate change on the southern basins and Musgrave Prescribed Wells Area is projected to be not as severe as the previous best-available information suggested. I am also advised that mains water consumption was approximately three gigalitres less than projected during the review period.

Advice from the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure suggested that the population growth rates out to 2050 should be revised to a lower rate. Demand for water from the mining sector is expected to be higher; however, the supply of water for the mining sector from private desalinated seawater supplies is also likely to be higher and therefore counteract that demand. I understand that, based on the revised projections, the timing of an independent planning process for the Eyre Peninsula region was revised and will not be required until 2018-19.

We come to the second annual review: released in June 2013, it now indicates that, under a worst-case scenario of high population growth, demand for drinking-quality water is projected to exceed supply in 2020-21. The anticipated timing for an independent planning process is therefore now scheduled for 2015-16, five years ahead of the anticipated disparity.

So, you see that we have this annual review where we check, on the best data available to us at the time, and we revise up our date when we imagine that demand and supply will be out of balance, and we do this on an annual basis. I am advised that the key factor that resulted in the shift of the demand and supply projections from the 2011 review to the 2012 review was a reduction in licence allocations to SA Water for the 2013-14 water year.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: It's very interesting.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It is fascinating—a lot of detail in these.

The Hon. S.G. Wade: At least 2¼ minutes.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Let's hope. The allocations were reduced due to a smaller recharge of the groundwater basins over the previous 12 months, and I think this comes to the point that the Hon. Ms Lee has been raising. Under the water allocation plans for the southern basin and Musgrave Prescribed Wells Area, allocations are set on an annual basis based on an assessment of recharge to the groundwater systems every 12 months. As a result, SA Water and other allocations can fluctuate on a yearly basis as a result of recent climactic conditions.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: Polda's going to take 50 years to recover.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: What was that, the Hon. Mr Brokenshire?

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: Polda will take 50 years to recover, you mark my words, minister.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: And on what basis do you make that calculation?

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Back to the answer. This reduction is factored into the future water supply assessment, resulting in the projection for demand exceeding supply under a case of high population growth and the impact of climate change brought forward three years. I understand that the outcomes of the 2012 review and the revised projections were presented by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to the Eyre Peninsula Water Security Reference Group in Port Lincoln on 11 June 2013. This group consists of representatives from Eyre Peninsula councils, Regional Development Australia and is convened by the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board.

Media reports from the release of the annual review have focused on the desalination plant or restrictions to address future demand and supply. However, such options will be assessed through the independent planning process, a commitment of Water for Good, and will be based on a thorough cost-benefit analysis and informed by community consultation. In the immediate term it is important that the department continue to monitor water resources on the Eyre Peninsula. The next annual review, I am advised, will be undertaken by the end of March 2014.

The Hon. Ms Lee asks what the government plans to do about degraded aquifers. Well, of course, there is not very much we can do about degraded aquifers except controlling the extraction process. They will be recharged by natural systems, but it will take some time. Those responses have to be part of a community-led response and will be part of that independent process I have just outlined.