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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-16 Daily Xml
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STORMWATER HARVESTING

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (14:07): Will the Minister for Water Security advise the house how much stormwater can realistically be harvested for re-use and what are the government's plans to increase investment in this area?

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (14:07): I very much thank the member for Norwood for her question, and I understand her very strong interest in this area. In the midst of this extended drought and dealing with climate variability, all South Australians are keen to see that we make the most sensible use of the water that is available to us. On Monday 29 June the Premier launched Water for Good, which is a comprehensive plan to guarantee South Australia's water security to 2050 and beyond. It builds on the extensive investment that our government is making to secure South Australia's water supply.

More importantly, the plan assigns a role for stormwater that is the result of careful and thorough process, which included the advice of independent consultants Wallbridge and Gilbert, consulting engineers, who were actually commissioned by the Stormwater Management Authority. The Stormwater Management Authority is a partnership between the state government and local government to manage flood mitigation and stormwater re-use programs. We decided that it would be sensible to get the experts to tell us what is a realistic number that can be re-used for stormwater in this state and then base our planning going forward on a realistic number—not pie in the sky numbers from non-experts who think they know a lot about it but do not.

This work, the Urban Stormwater Harvesting Options Study, was overseen by a steering committee, which included Colin Pitman, a renowned expert in stormwater re-use from the Salisbury council. The Urban Stormwater Harvesting Options Study concluded conclusively that there was the potential to harvest up to 60 billion litres (60 gigalitres) in greater Adelaide. This process was a vital part of ensuring that the Water for Good included a plan which was factually based and on which to build our investment for the contribution of stormwater management into the mix of our water resources. The state government is not running away from stormwater: we are embracing it. Salisbury council is a leader in stormwater harvesting and has invested significant—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop will come to order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: Salisbury council is a leader in stormwater harvesting and, to put it into context, the Salisbury council has been developing projects over 20 years, since the inception of their works in this area, and they have invested collectively through state government, federal government, their own contributions and private investor contributions $200 million overall, and, at this stage, that has produced seven gigalitres of re-useable water. It is a valuable contribution, but it is not one that will fix today's ills, in anyone's terms. By 2013, our stormwater re-use—

Mrs Redmond: You should have started years ago!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: We 'should have started years ago'. What did the Liberal Party do when it was in government? It cut funding to stormwater. The Liberal government cut funding. So, we 'should have done it years ago', and what you did was cut the funding.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: We currently have an application—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Attorney-General will come to order! The Minister for Water Security has the call.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: We currently have an application before the federal government for stormwater projects that will contribute another eight gigalitres of water for stormwater treatment and re-use. The Waterproofing the West project is a $58.6 million scheme, which will harvest 2.5 gigalitres through wetland aquifer storage and recovery projects at Cheltenham, Riverside Golf Club and Old Port Road. The Adelaide Airport Stormwater Scheme is a $9.7 million scheme, which will harvest over a gigalitre of stormwater to reduce the draw on mains and groundwater supplies; Unity Park Biofiltration project; the Water for the Future project, $19.2 million; Waterproofing the South Stage 2 is another $30 million; the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Aquifer Storage and Recovery is another $5.8 million being invested; and the Barker Inlet Stormwater Re-use Scheme is another $7.8 million project. These are all extremely good projects and demonstrate, quite clearly, that this government is committed to investment in stormwater re-use projects. No matter how much spin the opposition puts out, that is the case.

Let me talk about spin and why you cannot trust the debate that comes from the other side of the house. I would like to quote from the Leader of the Opposition's recent newsletter, 'The Redmond Report', in which she talks about stormwater harvesting. The newsletter states:

The Bridgewater oval, above, looking more like a lake after a flash flood engulfed the scoreboard and washed away part of the boundary fence. The water eventually ran out to sea.

Is that the case?

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: No, not true.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: It is not true. If the leader had been better informed when preparing her electorate publication, she may have found out that run-off from the Bridgewater oval does not run out to sea. Advice received from the Adelaide Mount Lofty NRM Board is that the run-off generated feeds into the Cox Creek—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop will come to order!

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond will come to order!

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: You are a bully, Mitch.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Transport will come to order! The house will come to order!

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Transport has been called to order once.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop has been called to order several times. The Minister for Water Security.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: Thank you, sir. If the leader had been better informed when preparing her electorate publication, she may have found out that run-off from the Bridgewater oval does not run out to sea. Advice received from the Mount Lofty NRM Board is that run-off generated in the area feeds the Cox Creek catchment, which naturally supplies the Onkaparinga River and Mount Lofty storages, which is where most of Adelaide's stormwater is currently captured.

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