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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-02-10 Daily Xml
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Kangaroo Creek Dam Upgrade

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:18): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister provide an update to the chamber on the progress to date of the Kangaroo Creek dam upgrade?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:18): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. The Kangaroo Creek dam is located on the River Torrens in the Adelaide Hills and is a critical part of SA Waters infrastructure, supplying water through the Hope Valley Reservoir and water treatment plant. The dam, constructed in the late 1960s, was the subject of a dam safety review undertaken in 2014 as part of SA Water's large dam portfolio risk assessment. The review was also necessary due to the updated Australian National Committee on Large Dams, Guidelines on Dam Safety Management (2003)

SA Water has implemented a long-term program of works to ensure all dams under its control meet the ANCOLD guidelines. This approach is consistent with other water utilities across the country and represents best practice in dam safety management. The report on the Kangaroo Creek dam recommended increasing the spillway capacity and strengthening the dam structures to withstand seismic loadings. The dam safety upgrade project will increase the flood capacity of the dam spillway and improve the dam's resistance to earthquakes.

As a result, the community living and working downstream of the dam will be safer and exposed to less risk due to the dam safety upgrade project. In 2013 SA Water appointed consultants to complete the concept design and proceed with detailed design, and on 23 November 2015 cabinet approved the contract to be awarded to a local South Australian contractor, Bardavcol. Bardavcol began work in January 2016 and the first part of the construction will focus primarily on excavation of the widened spillway, and it is expected that the dam embankment will be increased by approximately five metres and the spillway widened by 30 metres.

During the design process, SA Water has been working with contractors to solve complex technical issues. For example, soil from the spillway excavation will be placed on the downstream side of the embankment and a complex system of haul roads will be constructed to ensure that the bulk of the excavated material will be transported on internal roads, thus avoiding congesting public roads adjacent to the dam.

This upgrade will not only provide essential infrastructure but it is also providing local employment opportunities. I am informed that the project will see the equivalent of up to 220 full-time workers directly and indirectly employed on this project over the next three years, including four local graduate engineers who will receive outstanding experience and on-the-job training.

The project also involves the purchase of $2.5 million worth of new machinery that will have the effect of supporting local companies from which they are purchased. The total budget for the project is $94 million, and it is anticipated that the upgrades will be completed by mid-2018. Importantly, community feedback has been considered in the detailed project planning process prior to construction commencing and key stakeholder groups are being kept informed as the project progresses.

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