NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE: EYRE PENINSULA WATER SUPPLY

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:29): I move:

That the final report of the committee on Eyre Peninsula Water Supply be noted.

In October 2011, the Natural Resources Committee was approached by the member for Flinders (Mr Peter Treloar) to consider an inquiry into the Eyre Peninsula water supply. Water resources and supply have been major issues for the peninsula since European settlement in the 1900s. In the member's own words:

There is no other issue [other than water resources] that creates the interest and passion on the Eyre Peninsula.

After hearing the member's concerns and speaking with other interested parties, the committee determined to inquire into the matter and put the issues 'under the lens'.

The Eyre Peninsula Water Supply inquiry attracted more than 70 submissions and 46 witnesses. The water resources of the peninsula are unique. Nearly all the naturally occurring water is found in fragile limestone lenses resting atop ancient bedrock. The lenses fill following major winter rainfall events like large contiguous underground storage tanks. Groundwater flows in a southerly and westerly direction, depending on the lens concerned, contributing to a network of wetlands, soaks and springs. Much of the water, up to 10,700 megalitres per annum is extracted for distribution to major population centres, including Port Lincoln, via SA Water's network.

A portion of the resource is extracted by landholders for stock and domestic uses although this is presently unmetered. Some of Eyre Peninsula's water eventually discharges directly from the aquifers into the sea. Many local community members and landholders agree that extractions in previous decades have resulted in a number of aquifers becoming degraded, thus compromising their ability to provide secure water supplies into the future.

This view is mostly disputed by state government agencies responsible for administering the prescribed water resources. The Eyre Peninsula NRM Board, DEWNR and SA Water argue that reduced winter rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, is responsible for the decline in both the quality and quantity of water in the aquifers, not overextraction. Despite attempts by the agencies to raise awareness of the emerging climate trends and efforts to provide alternative water sources, in particular through connecting the Eyre Peninsula reticulated system with the Morgan-Whyalla pipeline, many people remain unconvinced that water resources on the peninsula are and will continue to be managed sustainably. In addition, many believe that mineral exploration and mining proposals threaten the integrity of aquifer systems.

Due to the complexity of the technical issues involved and the high level of disagreement as to the main cause of the degradation of the water supply on Eyre Peninsula, the committee sought expert technical advice from a source not already employed by the agencies. Based on this advice, the committee has concluded that the cause of the decline of water quantity and quality in the limestone basins cannot be clearly attributed to either natural causes—if you call declining rainfall natural—or overextraction by SA Water: it is most likely a combination of both.

Members appreciated the fact that landholders were prepared to speak candidly about their concerns. The evidence provided was of a very high standard and those who gave evidence are to be congratulated for the submissions they made and the time they took to speak to the committee. However, the committee made it clear when it met with landholders, especially the disaffected ones, that members have sought in this report to look to the future rather than apportioning blame for past actions.

The report contains 12 practical recommendations for the future that the committee hopes will help encourage agencies and communities involved with and dependent on Eyre Peninsula's water supplies to move towards a more ecologically sustainable future. The recommendations include:

replace the current 10-year average recharge water allocation policy on Eyre Peninsula with an adaptive management policy framework using carefully chosen triggers;

review overlapping jurisdictional responsibilities for water resource management on Eyre Peninsula;

rainfall gauging stations and monitoring bores should be located within the limestone groundwater lenses being monitored; and

DEWNR to reconsider the proposal to use April 1993 as the 'full basin' baseline level for prescribed groundwater resources on Eyre Peninsula; the committee recommends that 'full basin' levels should instead be based on maximum historical recorded water levels.

I wish to thank all those who gave their time to assist the committee with its inquiry. I commend the members of the committee—Presiding Member, the Hon. Steph Key MP, Mr Geoff Brock MP, Ms Robyn Geraghty MP, Mr Lee Odenwalder MP, Mr Don Pegler MP, Mr Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, and the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, and former member the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC—for their contributions to this report. All members worked cooperatively on this report. One of the pleasures of working on the Natural Resources Committee is that we all work in a bipartisan way, and we all look to getting solutions to real problems that affect our state.

I make special mention of the member for Flinders, Mr Peter Treloar, without whom this inquiry would not have occurred. The member for Flinders accompanied the committee on most of its fact-finding visits to Eyre Peninsula and assisted the committee with valuable advice throughout the inquiry. I also thank all individuals and groups who made submissions to the inquiry, gave evidence and met with committee members during our visits. The information received has been invaluable to the completion of our report. Finally, I thank the committee and staff for their assistance. I commend the report to the chamber.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (16:36): Once again, I rise to support and endorse the remarks made by the Hon. Mr Wortley. As the Hon. Mr Wortley has said, this report, which has been done over a period of nearly two years, was initiated at the suggestion of the member for Flinders. As someone who travelled around Eyre Peninsula with the now member for Flinders when he was a candidate, I can say that these issues, particularly in Lower Eyre Peninsula, were ones he brought to my attention at that stage, before he was even elected to the parliament. He did raise with the committee the possibility of our doing a wideranging report because there were many varied views on Eyre Peninsula about the overall potential for water resources in that region.

It was a wideranging inquiry. We took evidence from a large number of people; some of that was here in Adelaide, but a great deal of it was on site in Port Lincoln and in other parts of Eyre Peninsula. Our several visits to Eyre Peninsula covered a large majority of that region, and we allowed a number of local residents to take us to a range of places that are important to the water resources of Eyre Peninsula.

The Hon. Mr Wortley did, quite rightly, talk about the fact that the committee does work well. We are a multipartisan committee, and we work pretty hard to get consensus, and I think there are—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: A very busy committee.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: A very busy committee, as the Hon. Mr Brokenshire says. I think we have come up with some very good recommendations, and I would like to go through key elements of those. The committee has recommended that:

1. The Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation support Eyre Peninsula NRM board and DEWNR to replace 'flux-based' water allocation planning and management (ten-year average recharge) with adaptive management (using carefully chosen triggers based on monitoring)...

2. Eyre Peninsula NRM Board, SA Water and DEWNR continue to work together to 'fill the gaps' in knowledge of the region's water resources through investment in research and collaboration with research organisations. Rainwater harvesting, stormwater reuse, waste water recycling, desalination and capturing submarine freshwater discharges should be investigated as possible sources of additional water...

3. SA Water should formally respond to the Ceduna Council's proposed desalination plant at Denial Bay. This response would include the price it would pay the Ceduna Council for water to be provided to communities proposed to be serviced by the plant in order that the Council may prepare a business plan for the plant. The formal response must be made available to the Committee, the Eyre Peninsula NRM Board and DEWNR as well as Ceduna Council and should be completed within six months of Ceduna Council providing details of the proposed plant to SA Water...

4. The Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation and the Minister for Planning review EPA, Planning SA and DEWNR overlapping jurisdiction responsibilities for water management, water affecting activities and prescription on Eyre Peninsula, including the Southern Basins Water Protection Area (WPA), Water Protection Zone (WPZ) and the NRM Act with a view to simplifying and clarifying responsibilities. This review should consider adding the Robinson Basin and the WPZ to existing prescribed groundwater areas...

5. DEWNR, the Eyre Peninsula NRM Board, SA Water and the Lower Eyre Peninsula Council to investigate the potential for re-commissioning the Tod Reservoir including all possible options to reduce salinity of the catchment and water body...

6. Investigate key lower Eyre Peninsula catchments including Little Swamp and Big Swamp with a view to providing increased surface water flows during times of low rainfall to protect environmental assets and aquifer recharge...

7. DMITRE and DEWNR to consider locating some field operations and water licence management staff on Eyre Peninsula (e.g. Port Lincoln) rather than Adelaide and Berri. This would include staff responsible for inspecting and monitoring drilling operations for mining exploration and for sampling monitoring wells established under the MERI [monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement] Plan...

8. The...(MERI) Plan should include a requirement for DEWNR and SA Water to install rainfall gauging stations and monitoring bores within the actual lenses being monitored in consultation with affected landholders. The MERI Plan should include requirements for testing frequency and criteria including standing water level, salinity, nitrates and pH, with other criteria considered following landholder consultation. The additional gauging stations should be installed before the next WAP amendment process commences...

9. The Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation require SA Water, as a user of the water, to implement and report on automated time-series pumping of Eyre Peninsula borefield water meters with this information provided to DEWNR and the EPNRM Board on a quarterly basis to ensure allocations are not exceeded. This information should also be made available on SA Water's public internet site...

10. The Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy and the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation should encourage the EPNRM Board, DEWNR, DMITRE, SA Water and DPTI [the Department for Planning, Transport and Infrastructure] to develop a mechanism for mining/exploration companies, industry, local government and landholders to access and share information about mining exploration and extraction proposals on Eyre Peninsula with a view to improving understanding of potential impacts of mining and management of mining water use...

11. Eyre Peninsula NRM Board and DEWNR to reconsider their proposal to define April 1993 as the 'full basin' level for prescribed groundwater resources on Eyre Peninsula. Instead the full basin level should be the maximum level recorded historically based on the best available scientific records: e.g. pre-1962 (higher) water levels would be considered for use as the baseline...

12. SA Water decommission its pumps at Polda Trench and limit future extraction from Polda Basin to stock and domestic, fire-fighting and emergency supply for critical human needs i.e. similar to the current arrangements for the Robinson Basin and Tod Reservoir...

I commend this report to the council. It is a very wideranging report. I am sure there will be lots of people on Eyre Peninsula who will have views about the report, and some obviously will not agree with all our recommendations. However, as well as having the recommendations, the body of the report provides a significant amount of information about the history of water resources on Eyre Peninsula and what we see as the best way forward.

I once again commend all members of the committee for the way in which they work together, under the very good chairmanship of the Hon. Steph Key. I conclude by thanking the member for Flinders in another place for suggesting that the committee take up this work. I commend the report to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. R.L. Brokenshire.