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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-13 Daily Xml
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PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: VIRGINIA RECLAIMED WATER PIPELINE

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (11:35): I move:

That the 275th report of the committee, entitled Extension of the Virginia Reclaimed Water Pipeline to Angle Vale, be noted.

The Virginia Pipeline Scheme currently distributes about 15,000 megalitres per year of treated waste water from the Bolivar treatment plant to irrigators in the Virginia area. It is owned and operated under a build-own-operate-transfer scheme by Water Reticulation Systems Virginia, which will transfer the asset back to SA Water in 2018. An affiliate company approached SA Water in 2003 and proposed an extension, which has now been adopted as part of Waterproofing Adelaide, to achieve increased water recycling targets.

The proposed extension of the Virginia reclaimed water pipeline will be north-east of the existing pipeline and include just over 20 kilometres of new pipe. It will bring up to 3,000 megalitres per year of Class A reclaimed water from the Bolivar treatment plant to irrigators in the Angle Vale area. Indicative capital and operating cost estimates have been prepared by SA Water and are based on concept design data. The total estimated capital cost is $4.7 million. After allowing for commonwealth funding, the whole of life cost of the project in present value terms is $3.8 million.

The extension will be owned by SA Water, but Water Reticulated Services Virginia will operate it, in conjunction with the existing Virginia scheme. The extension will not be part of the BOOT agreement. SA Water will enter into a new operation agreement consistent with and using relevant portions of the original terms, and will receive an annual payment to lease its infrastructure. SA Water will take over maintenance and operation of the scheme in 2018, along with the existing Virginia scheme.

In addition to the economic benefits expected for the Angle Vale community, positive community impacts will include a move toward more sustainable use of resources in irrigation practice through the application of reclaimed water and improved flexibility of choice in sources of irrigation water. The primary environmental benefits will be a reduction in nutrient discharge to the Gulf St Vincent and reduction in abstraction of the over-allocated groundwater resource. Other positive environmental outcomes include some reduction in the use of water pumped from the River Murray for irrigation.

A flora and fauna assessment was undertaken along the proposed pipeline route in February 2007. The results of the assessment indicated that no significant flora or fauna impacts are likely. Management of potential impacts to soil and groundwater from irrigating with reclaimed water is to be undertaken in a manner consistent and in conjunction with the existing Virginia scheme; that is, using irrigation management plans. Several different pipeline routes were considered to find the most feasible way to:

deliver reclaimed water to irrigators who had expressed interest;

minimise the potential environmental impacts of construction on native plants and animals, significant trees and creeks and drains;

adapt to the Department for Transportation Energy and Infrastructure's Northern Expressway route plans;

site the new pumping station to minimise disruption to irrigators served by the existing Virginia scheme; and

minimise long-term energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

An economic analysis indicates a positive net present value of $0.6 million, but the uncertainty about values of some key items has led to the project being considered to simply break even. The analysis also indicates that the government sector investment will see the majority of the quantifiable benefits flowing to the irrigators via additional water supplied, reduced use of the groundwater resource and reduced groundwater pumping costs. The value of the additional irrigation water supplied and net irrigator benefits in total are about $5.7 million and $6.3 million respectively, in present value terms. Construction is to commence in February 2008 and be completed by July 2008. In summary, the following project outcomes are expected:

economic growth associated with increased horticultural production;

increase of land values in new service areas;

reduction of nutrient discharge to the Gulf St Vincent; and

reduction of demand pressure on the over-allocated and overused groundwater.

Based upon the evidence it has received, pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public work.

Mr PISONI (Unley) (11:40): I support the project. It was a very interesting Public Works Committee when this matter was discussed. It is so important that we recycle as much water as we can. It is a pity that this government has been very slow to act on the water crisis that we have in South Australia at present. I should use this opportunity to remind the house that it was actually John Olsen who first raised the prospect of dealing with our dying gulf. During the 1989 state election John Olsen, wearing his scuba gear, dived into the gulf to show us all the dying seagrass because of the effluent flowing straight into the gulf.

That was a defining moment for South Australians and water reuse in South Australia. This is an addition to a great project that was initiated by the Brown-Olsen governments. It has expanded our food bowl at Virginia, although I believe that more work needs to be done. Obviously, we need it in the southern suburbs. Ultimately, it would be great if not one single drop of effluent goes out into the gulf so we can preserve the precious seagrass and sea life in the gulf. I commend this project, and I say to the government: let us see more of it.

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (11:41): As a local member in the northern suburbs, I welcome and support the extension of the Virginia pipeline. We all know how important the Virginia area is to South Australia's food production. It is fantastic to have it as part of the wonderful range of industries in the northern suburbs, but this pipeline is absolutely critical in terms of future water requirements. About a week ago I had the pleasure of going on a trip organised by the natural resources management group from the Mount Lofty Ranges.

One of the things we discussed on that tour was the issue of water retention and better use of water in terms of all the areas in our neck of the woods in the northern catchment areas, including the Virginia food bowl. This pipeline extension, of course, is an important part of that whole mosaic of better use of water resources. I welcome the project, which is absolutely critical for the area and which will be part of a range of other things to improve our water use and retention over coming years.

The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Taylor) (11:43): It gives me great pleasure to support the motion and this project as a member of the Public Works Committee, and also the local member of parliament representing Virginia and parts of Angle Vale and the Northern Adelaide Plains. This is a $4.7 million project to extend the Bolivar to Virginia pipeline in order to deliver around 3,000 megalitres per year of additional reclaimed high-grade water to growers in the Angle Vale area. I am a passionate supporter of the growers of the Northern Adelaide Plains. They do an incredible job in an area that previously has not had the amount of water that it currently has as a result of the reclaimed water delivered from Virginia via the existing pipeline.

Of course, the amount of well-priced water that a grower can receive directly translates (apart from instances of natural disaster) into output in terms of horticulture in the area. I make that qualification about natural disasters because just over two years ago, in November 2005, we had the devastation of flooding in Virginia that wiped out over $40 million worth of horticultural production in the region. I commend the state government agencies, non-government agencies and local government for the effort that has been made in the past two years, not only in restoring in many parts what was there for those growers, but also in developing markets and production methods in order to go better than replacement of the assets that were there before the floods in some instances.

I also commend the Virginia community for its ability to deal with the devastation of that flood and to move forward. The intervention of money from the state government in relation to the development of that community has been a very welcome addition in the area. But we can always do more, and this project will be a boon to the area. As I said, production is directly related to the availability of water, and for growers to be able to get that water at a reasonable cost is very important.

I support this project. I am always advocating to the government for more for my growers in terms of availability of water, use of water and also in the way that government interacts with the growers of the Northern Adelaide Plains in allowing them to run profitable, productive businesses. The project about which we are concerned today, extending the existing Bolivar-Virginia pipeline, will make a real difference to a lot of the properties along the route of the pipeline and within its reach.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:48): I wish to make a brief contribution. Unfortunately, this project is not in my electorate; my electorate is to the immediate north of the area where the Light River forms a boundary between Goyder and the electorate of Taylor. I note that the member for Taylor referred to it as the Northern Adelaide Plains area. As I represent constituents a little further north, I would call it the southern Adelaide Plains area, but we will not get caught up in the semantics of it.

As someone who came into the parliament particularly concerned about water in whatever form across South Australia, I am interested to hear the contributions made this morning. From the presiding member's report it is obvious that this investment of $4.7 million will have enormous benefit to the Virginia area, so I commend the government and all involved in the investment.

I had the opportunity about three months ago to attend the official opening of the Divine Ripe tomato factory. I will call it a factory because I am not sure how else I could describe it. It is an amazing growing area which is completely under cover. It completely recycles all water that is used on the site. From memory, about $16 million has gone into this investment. It really is the way of the future on how water can be used to grow foodstuffs for South Australians. I know that the people involved there have some great contracts in place to ensure that what they grow is what the market needs, and it is a credit to them because they are showing the way. I heard Greg Prendergast, the managing director, speak at a meeting at Balaklava about the uniqueness of their project and the fact that it has provided 80 employment opportunities to the Adelaide Plains area, and it gave me inspiration to know that a lot of people are investing serious money these days to make sure that South Australia moves forward.

I note that the Premier often mentions that Adelaide treats and reuses 20 per cent of its water. The State Strategic Plan target is to increase that to 45 per cent in comparison to the national average of nine per cent. It is interesting to note that the member for Morphett has quoted to me quite often that in the last few years the Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant has actually increased the cost of the water from its treatment works made available to users by 1600 per cent and that the water reuse percentage has decreased from 11 per cent to six per cent.

I would hope that in respect of the Virginia extension, and certainly the Bolivar treatment plant, that pricing is seriously considered because, while the investment in the infrastructure to get it out to people is there, it really does have to be at a cost rate. I have no knowledge on this so I might be talking about the wrong thing, but it is important that the cost of the water is actually at a level that will attract people to it.

I commend the government on its investment in this project. I think that it will have to occur many times in the future because the drought in the last two years has demonstrated that, without improving the technologies available to us to reuse water as much as possible, our state faces very serious circumstances that all in this house are concerned about.

We want to make sure that we have a bright future. It is obvious to me—and I would hope to everyone—that the provision of potable water supplies for drinking and for human use and for industry use is a key factor in that, so the reuse technologies that exist must result in government investment taking place.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:51): I will be very brief. I commend this motion. The report of the ERD Committee will come up shortly for further debate. One of the key issues raised during our inquiry was the effect of grey water and stormwater going out into our coastal areas, and the huge damage that is being done as a result.

Any project such as this to extend and expand the use of reclaimed water, I think, is fantastic. I would like to see South Australia do a lot more in this regard and not only use reclaimed grey water but also do a lot more with stormwater. I support this measure; it is a great thing to be happening.

Motion carried.

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