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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-19 Daily Xml
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NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE: EYRE PENINSULA WATER SUPPLY

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:45): I move:

That the 73rd report of the committee, entitled Eyre Peninsula Water Supply Interim Report: Under the Lens, be noted.

In October 2011, the Natural Resources Committee was approached by the member for Flinders, Mr Peter Treloar, to consider an inquiry into the Eyre Peninsula water supply. Water resources and supply have been major issues for the peninsula since European settlement, and certainly since 1900. In the member's own words, 'There is no other issue that creates the interest and passion on the Eyre Peninsula.'

After hearing the member's concerns and speaking with other interested parties, the committee determined to inquire into the matter and put the issues 'under the lens'. Problems with water management on Eyre Peninsula are compounded by the region's remoteness. The closer you get to Western Australia, the more residents seem to feel they have been forgotten by a state capital more focused on events in suburban Adelaide.

Our call for submissions elicited a huge response and a high number of submissions—in fact, 59 so far—and more than 25 requests to present in person to the committee. To put this into perspective, this was a greater response than our recent call for submissions for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The water resources of the peninsula—which the members heard was, in fact, better described as a cape, in morphological terms—are unique in South Australia. Nearly all naturally occurring water is found in fragile limestone lenses resting atop ancient bedrock. The lenses fill following major winter rainfall events like large contiguous underground storage tanks. Groundwater flows in a southerly direction, contributing to a network of wetlands, soaks and springs that support local ecosystems.

Much of this water—up to 10,700 megalitres per annum—is extracted for distribution to major population centres, including Port Lincoln, via South Australia's pipe network. A percentage of the available water is extracted by landholders for stock and domestic use. Some of the water eventually discharges directly from the aquifers to the sea.

The committee heard that extractions from previous decades have resulted in a number of aquifers becoming degraded thus compromising their ability to provide secure water supplies into the future. As one would expect, the past extraction levels are considered unsustainable and significant efforts in expenditure on water resource planning have been undertaken. However, despite these efforts, many in the community remained convinced that future management of the resource looks set to be ineffective and are openly questioning the commitment of the government agencies to sustainable water resource management.

In addition to the concerns regarding levels of extraction, the committee also heard that mineral exploration and mining proposals threaten the integrity of the remaining intact aquifer systems, including Uley South lens—the main water supply aquifer to Port Lincoln. The committee was alarmed at the depth of divisions in the community regarding water resource management.

Historically, a number of water sources for Eyre Peninsula have been investigated. SA Water considered building desalination plants at Sleaford Bay and the Tod Reservoir and then opted to extend the Morgan Whyalla pipeline instead, further entrenching dependency on an already stretched Murray-Darling Basin.

Local councils, including Ceduna and Streaky Bay, have investigated and developed waste water and stormwater recycling and created suggestions for improving water resource management, including developing small-scale desalination plants and dams and tanks to capture surface water run-off. There has also been discussion of harvesting fresh water as it is discharged into the marine environment. This technology is untested in Australia but appears to warrant further investigation as the volumes of water lost in this way are potentially available for capture and use; these are significant.

While there is disagreement, there are also points of agreement. Most of the feedback, for example, the committee has received from stakeholders suggests a consensus that less water needs to be extracted from the limestone lenses to ensure their sustainability. The committee has made one recommendation in this interim report; that is, that the parliament fund the committee to engage an expert to provide valuable independent technical advice on the Eyre Peninsula water supply.

The committee looks forward to bringing to bear additional resources to facilitate a detailed analysis of the complex issues at play, including the considerable evidence already collected to ensure a thorough investigation. All up, we anticipate this inquiry will run for about 12 months. The committee's final fact-finding visit to Eyre Peninsula is scheduled for early November 2012. We look forward to receiving further evidence from interested parties and viewing a number of sites to enhance our understanding of these issues.

I commend the members of the committee: Mr Geoff Brock MP, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, Mrs Robyn Geraghty MP, Mr Lee Odenwalder MP, Mr Don Pegler MP, Mr Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP, and the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC, for their contributions. Finally, I would particularly like to commend the parliamentary staff for their assistance and note the fabulous work that has been done by David Trebilcock, our research officer, along with our executive officer, Patrick Dupont. I must say that one of the people who we have adopted on our committee is the member for Flinders, Mr Peter Treloar, who is also seen as part of our team. I commend this report to the house.

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (11:52): I, too, commend the Natural Resources Committee and its members. I would particularly like to thank the Chair, the member for Ashford, for her work and dedication and her ability to manage this committee and the enthusiasm with which the committee has undertaken this inquiry. It is an issue that is very dear to my heart. It is an issue that is very dear to the hearts of many residents of Eyre Peninsula, and that has been highlighted today.

As the member for Ashford indicated, the committee has received more submissions on this particular topic than they did on the Murray-Darling Basin plan. I think that highlights the interest and enthusiasm of the residents of Eyre Peninsula with regard to this. I congratulate the committee on their interim report—it is a substantial report with some 60 pages in total, I believe—and also the dot-pointed executive summary and one recommendation.

The executive summary highlights the technical nature of some of the evidence that has been submitted and also the disparity and lack of agreement between some of the evidence that has been received. For that reason, I would absolutely endorse the recommendation of the committee to the parliament here in South Australia that we provide sufficient funding to allow the committee to engage a technical expert to provide independent advice on the Eyre Peninsula water supply.

I endorse wholeheartedly the recommendation. I encourage the parliament to see fit to support it. The reason is that the evidence is of a very technical nature. In fact, technical support would be valuable in finding a way through all of the evidence that has been presented, all of the disparity, and all of the knowledge gaps that have been highlighted by the various submissions, the most notable being the lack of understanding as to the interaction or otherwise of the underground lenses. I really believe that technical support would be available and of much value.

There will be no silver bullet. There will be no one solution to Eyre Peninsula's water resource issues but there is no doubt that demand will increase as population increases, industry expands and new industries come on board. We need to be prepared for that, we need to put ourselves into a position as a regional community that is relatively isolated from the rest of the state where we can go into the coming decades with some confidence. Once again, I absolutely endorse the interim report and recommendation. I also thank the committee for inviting me to be involved, as I have been along the way, and also for them taking the time to visit Eyre Peninsula and make site visits as well.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (11:55): I thank the committee for this report on the Eyre Peninsula water supply, which, as many members would remember, Liz Penfold was very passionate about, and our current member, Mr Treloar, is equally passionate about the need for water security on Eyre Peninsula. I will add one thing. Recently, I visited Eyre Peninsula and had some meetings with representatives from Centrex who are investigating the viability of their development for an iron ore deposit and the building of Spencer Port and so on. All of that is hopefully something that will be successful for the state. As part of the proposal they will look at a desalination plant. When I inquired as to whether there was any interest from SA Water in acquiring extra water that they may be able to produce, the answer was no, there was no interest.

SA Water has a privileged position in the state of being currently the monopoly regulator and operator. We have had legislation which allows new parties to come in and that has been referred to in your report and, hopefully, they will be able to get going. Over the years, a number of different infrastructure projects have come across my desk which I think have a future, but it is very disappointing as the shadow minister for infrastructure to find in a state, particularly in the driest part of a region which has a future particularly in mining, that we have the single biggest monopoly regulator saying 'No, we are not interested in any other water you can produce.'

I understand that there is a bit of variation in the science as to whether there needs to be new supplies discovered or developed before 2015, or whether it is more pressing. All I know is that every time I visit Eyre Peninsula it is a major issue. I thank the member for Flinders for raising this issue and the committee for considering it, but it seems to me that there is a monumental difference between what is required and what SA Water is prepared to alert themselves to in a priority list of what needs to be done. I urge the committee to continue to push this issue and ensure that that is followed through, and that SA Water understands the seriousness of this and does not keep putting its head in the sand.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Bragg, when did you go to Eyre Peninsula?

Ms CHAPMAN: When?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, when?

Ms CHAPMAN: I do not know if I did say, but it was about two months ago.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You might want to get an update because the committee was out there last week and we were advised differently about Centrex and SA Water discussions.

Ms CHAPMAN: Well, there you go. Hopefully it has advanced.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:58): I would like to thank the committee again for their input and also the staff. I take on board what the member for Flinders said. The member for Bragg might like to know that we also had the former member for Flinders as a witness to our committee and we also had contributions from the former member for Stuart, so this is an issue that has been around for a long time and our committee is quite dedicated to making sure that we come up with a sensible and technically correct and independent report.

Motion carried.

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