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

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:43): I move:

That the 85th report of the committee, entitled Eyre Peninsula Water Supply Final Report: Under The Lens, be noted.

In October 2011, the Natural Resources Committee was approached by the member for Flinders to consider an inquiry into the Eyre Peninsula water supply. Water resources and supply have been major issues for the peninsula since European settlement around 1900. In the member's own words, 'There is no other issue [other than water resources] 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. The Eyre Peninsula Water Supply Inquiry attracted more than 70 submissions and 46 witness statements.

The water resources of the peninsula are unique; nearly all the 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 and westerly direction, depending on the lens concerned, contributing to a network of wetlands, soaks and springs. Much of this water (up to 10,700 millilitres per annum) is extracted for distribution to major population centres, including Port Lincoln, via SA Water's network.

A portion of the resource is extracted by landholders for stock and domestic uses, although is presently unmetered. Some of Eyre Peninsula's water eventually discharges directly from the aquifers into the sea. Many local community members and landholders agree 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. This view is mostly disputed by state government agencies responsible for administering prescribing water resources.

They Eyre Peninsula NRM Board, DEWNR and SA Water argue that reduced winter rainfall exacerbated by climate change is responsible for the decline in both the quality and quantity of water in the aquifers, not over-extraction. Despite attempts by the agencies to raise awareness of emerging climate trends, and efforts to provide alternative water sources, in particular through connecting the Eyre Peninsula reticulated system with the Morgan-Whyalla pipeline, many people remain unconvinced that water resources on the peninsula are and will continue to be managed sustainably. In addition, many believe that mineral exploration and mining proposals threaten the integrity of aquifer systems.

Due to the complexity of technical issues involved and the high level of disagreement as to the main cause of the degradation of water supply on Eyre Peninsula, the committee sought expert technical advice from a source not already employed by the agencies. Based on this advice, the committee has concluded that the cause of the decline of water quantity and quality in the limestone basins cannot be clearly attributed either to natural causes—if you call declining rainfall natural—or over-extraction by SA Water: it is most likely a combination of both.

Members appreciated the fact that landholders were prepared to speak candidly about their concerns. The evidence provided was of a very high standard, and those who gave evidence are to be congratulated for the submissions they made and the time they took to speak to the committee. However, the committee made it clear when it met with landholders, especially the disaffected ones, that members have sought in this report to look to the future, rather than apportion blame for past actions.

The report contains 12 practical recommendations for the future that the committee hopes will help encourage agencies and communities involved with and dependent on Eyre Peninsula's water supplies to move forward towards a more ecologically sustainable future. The recommendations include:

1. Replace the current 10-year average recharge water allocation policy on Eyre Peninsula with an adaptive management policy framework, using carefully-chosen triggers.

2. Review overlapping jurisdictional responsibilities for water resource management on Eyre Peninsula.

3. Rainfall gauging stations and monitoring bores should be located in the limestone groundwater lenses being monitored.

4. DEWNR to reconsider the proposal to use April 1993 as the 'full basin' baseline level for prescribed groundwater resources on Eyre Peninsula. The committee recommends that the 'full basin' level should instead be based on maximum historical recorded water levels.

I wish to thank all those who gave their time to assist the committee in this inquiry. I commend the members for Frome, Torrens, Little Para, Mount Gambier and Stuart, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC, and the Hon. Russell Wortley MLC, for their contributions to this report. All members have worked cooperatively on this report.

The staff, I need to say, have found this almost two-year inquiry a real challenge, fielding telephone calls—very long telephone calls in many cases, I might say, if they are anything like the telephone calls I received from people who live in the area—and emails. I would particularly like to thank Patrick Dupont, our executive officer, and David Trebilcock, our research officer and also the producer of this 170-page plus report with many fine appendices.

I would also like to make special mention of the member for Flinders, without whom this inquiry would not have occurred. The member for Flinders accompanied the committee on most of its fact-finding visits to Eyre Peninsula and assisted the committee with valuable advice throughout the inquiry.

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (11:50): I welcome this report and would like to concur with the good member's thanks to the committee and staff members. She already mentioned David Trebilcock and Patrick Dupont, of course, and I congratulate the committee members, particularly the presiding member, the member for Ashford. Thank you very much for the effort and assiduous manner in which you have undertaken this inquiry. I know it is the role of parliamentary committees to do just that, but in this case I believe that effort was made above and beyond the call of duty.

The report has been almost two years in the making. When I first approached the committee about the possibility of undertaking an inquiry into Eyre Peninsula's water supply, it was really to assist in resolving what I saw were some really conflicting views about how the water resource was being managed and what the future of that resource and supply was in fact. It has been a huge inquiry. I understand that the committee has taken more submissions and witness statements on this inquiry than it did in regard to the Murray-Darling Basin, so I think that indicates the interest, concern and passion that the residents of Eyre Peninsula have in regard to their water.

The committee received over 70 submissions and about 46 witness statements, and without doubt the theme coming through was the decline in water quality and quantity in the limestone basins on Eyre Peninsula. One of the findings of the committee was that that decline in quality and quantity has most likely been caused by a combination of reduced rainfall and overextraction. This was one of the points that was hotly debated during the time of the submission, but I can understand that the committee has come to a reasonable landing on this particular point. You cannot blame one or the other in its entirety. It is quite likely, and I agree, that it has been a combination of both reduced rainfall and overextraction.

I believe that the report looks very clearly to the future water management on Eyre Peninsula, and I thank the committee for taking that direction in this. It does not look to lay blame in any particular way on past practices, even though there was evidence there that mistakes had been made and most certainly they have been in the past. It contains a number of very practical recommendations, I believe, that should, could and will, I am sure, assist agencies and communities involved with and dependent on local water supplies.

The presiding member has run through a few of the recommendations, but I might just take a couple of minutes to run over a few of them that I felt were particularly important. Recommendations of the inquiry include a review of overlapping jurisdictional responsibilities for water resource management on Eyre Peninsula and that rainfall gauging stations and monitoring bores should be located within the limestone groundwater lenses.

The report asks that the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources' proposal to use April 1993 as the 'full basin' baseline level for prescribed groundwater be reconsidered. This was a very topical point when it was first put forward. The suggestion by the committee is that full basin levels should instead be based on maximum historical recorded water levels. Interestingly for me, the report also suggests that the potential for recommissioning the Tod Reservoir be investigated, including all possible options to reduce salinity of the catchment and water body

I have to say that the Tod Reservoir holds a very special place within the community of Eyre Peninsula, and people still very much regard it as a public asset. It has been with much dismay that we have looked on its decline over the last 10 years or so. I certainly think there is a very good opportunity—I know that there are problems with the catchment and with salinity levels within the reservoir itself—to utilise it far better than it is being used.

There is no doubt that the water resources on Eyre Peninsula are unique. This has been very clearly identified for probably more than 150 years, truth be known, because it has always been very topical, and this was highlighted once again in regard to this report. The committee made it quite clear when they met with the landowners that members have sought in this report to look to the future rather than apportion blame for the past, and I have already touched on that.

I compliment and congratulate the committee on their document. It is substantial; it was only tabled yesterday, so I have not managed to read it all yet, but it is a document that I think we can hold up and use in our planning for the future. I think the most important thing for me is that landowners, particularly those who feel disaffected, have had the opportunity, in a public structured forum, to air their grievances and raise their issues, and various government agencies have also had the opportunity to state their case.

One of the other things that has been highlighted is that the various government agencies, communities and individuals who all have an interest in the supply and management of water on Eyre Peninsula should do their utmost to keep lines of communication open and to keep their working relationships productive.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:57): I am proud to follow the member for Flinders, but can I place on the record two things. Firstly, notwithstanding the recommendations on the Tod River, I note that in this year's budget the government has already decided to spend money to deal with the strengthening of that site in anticipation of a commercial sale of that water. So, it may be too late, and I am disappointed to read that—not because of the committee's recommendation but because the government has already acted before the report was received.

I also place on the record my concern that SA Water does have a lot to answer for. Heads are not going to roll as a result of this inquiry, I understand that, but I think the recommendations here make SA Water equally culpable as a monopoly provider—not because they were the monopoly making the money out of the water during the time of demise but because they were vested with a direct responsibility for managing this site and managing this very crucial resource.

I think SA Water need to take away this report, read it very carefully and make sure they heed it, because I think it is a damning indictment on their performance over this time. I thank members of the committee for the work they undertook.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:58): I would like to close the debate by noting that all the members of the committee would like to have spoken on this particular report but, so that we can actually get the report carried today, we hope, and out into the community for discussion, I would like to move that the report now be noted.

Motion carried.

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