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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-09-09 Daily Xml
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Public Works Committee: Kangaroo Creek Dam Safety Upgrade Project

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:41): I move:

That the 525th report of the committee, entitled Kangaroo Creek Dam Safety Upgrade Project, be noted.

This project will see SA Water undertake a major safety upgrade of Kangaroo Creek Dam, which is situated in the Adelaide Hills, upstream from the metropolitan area. It was constructed in the 1960s. Over the years, the standards for dam construction have changed and SA Water has decided to undertake an upgrade to ensure the safety of the dam in the unlikely event of extreme flooding or seismic incident. I must emphasise that this is indeed an upgrade for safety and risk management reasons, not for structural reasons. The current dam is structurally sound.

The upgrade will including the widening of the spillway to make it 50 metres, and increasing the height of the dam crest by 4.7 metres. This will ensure that the dam meets the Australian National Committee on Large Dams' guidelines for flood and seismic requirements—specifically, a one in 10 million-year flood event and a one in 10,000-year earthquake event.

The upgrade will allow for better management of the release of water in a flood event and ensure structural integrity of the dam in the event of major seismic activity. The cost of the project is $94.655 million and is included in SA Water's forward estimates. It will have no impact on SA Water's overall capital plan, borrowings, contribution to government, or customer pricing.

Prior to hearing witnesses on this project, the Public Works Committee undertook a site visit to understand the magnitude of this project. It certainly was a fruitful visit, and we were grateful of this once we actually had the hearing.

The initial construction works are due to commence in September 2015, with completion of the works in early to mid-2018. Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:43): I, too, rise to speak on the 525th report of the Public Works Committee regarding the Kangaroo Creek Dam safety upgrade. I note that the member for Morialta took a great deal of interest in this upgrade as it sits above his electorate, and he was quite concerned to ensure that this upgrade needed to be done urgently and as quickly as possible. We were told during the hearing that the Kangaroo Creek dam was identified as needing an upgrade as far back as 2008, so I think that was a good pick-up by the member for Morialta.

The Kangaroo Creek Dam, situated at the top of the River Torrens, is a critical path of South Australia's water infrastructure storage. It stores water for supply through the Hope Valley reservoirs to supply over 40,000 households. If the Kangaroo Creek Dam were to experience a flood or an earthquake larger than it was originally designed and constructed to cope with in the 1960s, large areas of Adelaide's population would be at risk. This gives rise to the need for the further strengthening and modification of the dam, bringing it up to current design standards.

The project will increase the flood capacity and the earthquake resistance of the dam. We did note that, before the dam was built, we had quite a significant earthquake on that fault line that runs through the Hills. If the dam was built before it was built, it probably would not have survived that earthquake. This upgrade is overdue, but it is warranted. I recommend the upgrade to the house.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:45): I was unable to attend the hearing, but I did go on the site inspection some months ago now. It was a bit of an eye opener for the committee once again, I think, to see the dam situation, where it was and to have an in-depth briefing on site. I am pleased that the committee now goes out and does these things, whereas in the past it did not seem to do much at all for some period over site inspections. Kangaroo Creek is an important part of the water infrastructure for Adelaide and South Australia and the proposed changes to it will not only benefit the dam and its suitability but also have environmental benefits further downstream, so I am pleased to support the project.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:46): I thank my fellow committee members, the members for Chaffey and Finniss, for their words on this particular project, and it is an important project. I think keeping up with standards and ensuring those safety standards is extremely important. I would like to thank those involved in presenting the project to us and hosting us on the site visit. I would also like to thank all the Public Works Committee members. I recommend the report.

Motion carried.

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