Riverine Recovery Project

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:07): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Water and the River Murray a question about the Riverine Recovery Project.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: Minister, you travelled to the Riverland in August 2016 to announce the second $34 million phase of funding as part of the $98 million Riverine Recovery Project. This project is centred on improving the ecological health of 11 wetlands between South Australia and the Victorian border. It seeks to restore a number of functions through environmental recovery while at the same time delivering water savings through wetland management regimes.

In particular, there were projects announced based on the Woolenook Bend wetland, which includes areas of the Squiggly Creek system and Jermacans Causeway. Construction work was planned to have commenced, with a scheduled completion of October 2018. I have been further advised that no on-the-ground work for those two projects has started. Furthermore, the community has raised concerns that it has now been 16 months and works are yet to begin. My questions are:

1. How many of the Riverine Recovery Projects have started on-the-ground works?

2. Why haven't on-the-ground works begun for the Woolenook Bend wetland at Squiggly Creek and Jermacans Causeway?

3. When will the works at Squiggly Creek and Jermacans Causeway begin?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. The Riverine Recovery Project is a $98.9 million joint commonwealth and state government funded project, as I am advised, due for completion in mid 2019. The project aims to recover up to 15 gigalitres of environmental water, maintain or improve water-dependent ecosystem health, optimise conditions for ecological community recovery, increase community knowledge and improve the scientific knowledge and understanding of floodplains, wetlands and environmental river management.

The phase 2 wetlands project is a $33.3 million component of the Riverine Recovery Project and primarily involves the construction of capital infrastructure at selected wetlands sites to improve fringing wetland habitat and contribute to the overall project water savings target. The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has partnered with SA Water as the constructing authority for the construction works.

I am advised that the phase 2 wetlands project includes works at 11 priority wetlands, covering 458 hectares of wetlands and 50 kilometres of anabranches, and 7,362 hectares of associated flood plain will benefit from these works, spanning about 440 kilometres of the River Murray. Further sites are being considered, I am advised, following confirmation of construction cost estimates received as part of the tender process. A formal approval of phase 2 wetlands occurred on 21 June 2016—and that's probably the date and the event the honourable member is referring to in asking the question of me—and the project has now entered the implementation phase.

The construction contract has not yet been awarded, however. On-ground works are expected to commence in November 2017. Upon the contract award, a construction schedule will be issued which will advise the construction commencement date. It is expected that the phase 2 wetlands project will foster the recovery of 16 endangered wetland plants across four river reaches and double the number of managed wetlands where native fish are dominant.

The phase 2 wetlands project is also expected to contribute to the full suite of local frogs—that's nice to know—and key water bird species being found at the wetlands. Other outcomes will include partnered management arrangements with traditional owners for the management of the Sugar Shack wetland complex, returning this complex of permanent and intermittent wetlands and creeks to the way they were for the ancestors of today's traditional owners of that area.

Community engagement will also continue towards increasing awareness and knowledge, strengthening relationships with traditional owners and building long-term river stewardship for communities along the River Murray. The Riverine Recovery Project community partnerships participatory budgeting project is enabling ongoing engagement with the community, ensuring a lasting legacy of knowledge and understanding long after the infrastructure sites are completed.

The project is being run via YourSAy and 19 compliant applications were received, I am advised. The applications have come from individuals, community and environmental groups, with the support of local government and other authorities. The projects represent a range of ideas from events, a movie, on-site works and interpretive signage. Following the public selection process, the department has offered 12 applicants further funding to deliver the projects, which will be completed later on.

That is a brief update on the project. The large amount of the spend on environmental works and engineering works; the smaller spend on the community consultation and projects as well. All of them are going through a very lengthy phase of work up, particularly, as you would expect, the $34.3 million component of the Riverine Recovery wetlands project, which requires construction of capital infrastructure that requires certainly going through a process of testing the environmental outcomes from the proposed project and then going to tender and then scheduling the appropriate works on ground. That is why there never was any answer to be expected from June 2016 of early works happening. It was a long-term plan and it went through its various stages and, as I say, we are about to go to the award stage shortly.