Urban Water Management

The PRESIDENT: The honourable and very gallant Mr McLachlan.

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (14:46): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Water and the River Murray a question regarding the urban water management plan for greater Adelaide.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN: It was reported in the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources Annual Report for the year 2012-13 that work has commenced on the development of an integrated urban water management plan for Greater Adelaide. The report stated:

Consultation on the Blueprint with local government and other stakeholders will commence in late 2013, with the Blueprint to be finalised in 2014.

I note from the minister's press release, dated 17 October, that the stakeholders have only just been invited to participate in discussions on the plan and that the plan, which was due to be finalised by this year, is now not expected to be finalised until the end of 2015. Can the minister please advise the chamber what the reason was for the delay in consulting with stakeholders on the development of the plan and the delay in the finalisation of the plan a year later than was indicated in the department's 2012-13 annual report?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for his most important and very noble question. South Australia has a very strong history of water management and policy. I am proud to recognise our state's recent achievements in response to the millennium drought over recent years, and we now have the capacity to harvest over 20 gigalitres of stormwater, as I mentioned in answer to a previous question today, across metropolitan Adelaide.

We have a rainfall-independent source of drinking water in the Adelaide Desalination Plant. We have modern legislative frameworks for driving efficiency and innovation in the water industry in the form of the Water Industry Act. We have one of the highest levels of rainwater tank ownership in the country and we have the highest level of waste water recycling in the nation.

As a result of significant investments over the last decade, Adelaide now has access to six sources of urban water: water from catchments, obviously, in the ranges; water from the River Murray; desalinated seawater; groundwater; stormwater; and wastewater. Traditionally, these resources have been managed in isolation across a variety of state and local government organisations.

The government's view is that there is significant opportunity to build on the reforms of the past and not to stand still but to actually grow our expertise in this area, and particularly those from our water security plan 'Water for Good', by developing a new plan for urban water for Adelaide: one that will ensure that we maximise the social, economic and environmental outcomes that our diverse water portfolio provides and that we continue to stay in the leadership position we are in in this nation in terms of water policy.

This will set a long-term direction. It is designed to set a long-term direction for urban water across Greater Adelaide. It will ensure that we continue to meet future challenges, but it will also provide opportunities for turning these into positive outcomes for the community with economic benefits for those who wish to take those opportunities. Given the significant interest that the community and industry have in our urban water resources and how they are managed, it is critical that we develop a plan that has a strong process of engagement with those communities and affected stakeholders.

On 17 October this year, I announced to the members of this chamber the start of such an engagement process for an urban water plan for Greater Adelaide. An issues paper has been released by the government to facilitate discussion with stakeholders and the community on the possible scope and priorities for the plan. This issues paper is available for broad access on the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources website at www.environment.sa.gov.au.

I have also written to councils, industry associations and other not-for-profit organisations to invite them to comment on the issues paper and participate in the preparation of the plan. The feedback received from this first step of engagement will assist in the preparation of a draft plan for further consultation early next year.