House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-28 Daily Xml

Contents

SOUTH-EAST CANALS

142 Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (30 September 2008). Does the government have any plans to reroute the canals from the South-East into Lake Albert?

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security): I am advised:

There is no proposal to divert water directly from the South East drains to Lake Albert. There is a proposal to divert water from the Lower South East to the Upper South East drains, which in very high periods of flow will feed into the south lagoon of the Coorong.

In relation to the issue of seawater inputs to Lake Albert, this is being investigated as a potential short-term response to the risk of acidification of the lake.

Lake Albert salinity levels are currently around 4900 EC, while sea water is around 50,000 EC.