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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-14 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

COORONG

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister Assisting the Premier in Cabinet Business and Public Sector Management) (14:01): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The South-East of our state has been blessed with reliable rainfall. So much so, in fact, that the landscape has been periodically flooded, and prior to European settlement a vast wetland system stretched as far north as Kingston and Keith. Confronted with this 150 years ago, early settlers in the Lower South-East—probably relatives of the honourable member—sought to open up the land for agriculture and began constructing drains to divert these floodwaters to the sea. Unfortunately, these actions were taken without the understanding that we now have of how water flows through the South-East.

Historically, floodwaters from the South-East gradually made their way north-west through the natural waterways, filling up wetlands along the way, and eventually reaching the Coorong. However, with the South-East now a highly altered agricultural landscape, this process has been disrupted and, combined with land clearing, has left us with fragmented ecosystems and a landscape increasingly degraded by salinity.

Thankfully, we have learned from past mistakes, and smart drains, constructed more recently through the Upper South-East drainage program, have been designed to remove saline groundwater, manage flood risk and divert water to key wetlands for environmental purposes.

In July this year, I was pleased to announce that the state government would proceed with construction of the Bald Hill drain near Kingston to complete the Upper South-East drainage network. I also announced that we would commence construction of floodways to redirect water from the Lower South-East to the Upper South-East to replicate the historical natural flows as best we can and, in the process, help restore water to the Coorong.

The benefits that a completed drainage network could deliver are now becoming evident. With above-average winter rains, water from the existing drainage network has been diverted to wetlands throughout the Upper South-East in recent months, and starting today, more than 14 gigalitres of water collected through the Upper South-East drainage network will be released into the Coorong. This water will continue to flow for about three months and will be the largest volume of water ever to be released into the Coorong from the South-East drainage system.

The last time high volumes of water were released was in 2003-04 when 10.7 gigalitres provided refreshing flows to the Coorong. The Bald Hill and floodways projects will add to these benefits. With construction work on these projects scheduled to commence this month, I will soon be introducing a bill to extend the Upper South East Dryland Salinity and Flood Management Act beyond December 2009 so that they have the certainty needed to proceed as soon as possible.

Delivering water to the Coorong is good news for this precious ecosystem and shows that South Australia will do what it can to restore it to health. But long-term health depends on increased flows from upstream states, which take 93 per cent of the water extracted from the Murray-Darling Basin. Until a long-term solution is provided, South Australia is taking emergency action to protect the Coorong and lakes at the Murray Mouth.

Measures already being taken include bioremediation, liming acid sulfate soils and purchasing an additional 50 gigalitres of environmental water. Today's announcement is a further measure that will help. However, with only 7 per cent of Murray-Darling water taken out in South Australia, we need to keep focusing on a national solution that ensures fairness.

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