Page 2377 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
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faced the fact that we have got a water crisis; perhaps we do not have a water crisis to that extent.
I am really glad that Mrs Dunne has read her ICRC report. Their comments on the recycling plant were very interesting. I have so often wondered where that proposal came from. There has been a wave of desalination plants and recycling plants around Australia. A really good salesman must have come around. I am just not sure about that. But in Sydney, he was so successful—and I am saying “he” advisedly—that he sold Sydney people a desalination plant that they do not need, which the government has committed to. I am very pleased that at least Actew has not yet committed to building a recycling plant. We have got until the end of the year before it makes that decision, and I hope it takes on board the ICRC advice when it makes that decision.
One priority that Actew came up with over the next year is to progress arrangements to purchase water from the Murray-Darling Basin. There are concerns about taking water from another catchment. I know that this solution works very well for the ACT. When I brought this up with Actew officers, they said, “Already, the Snowy hydro-electricity scheme is pushing water from one catchment into another.” I am not really sure that that justifies our doing even more diversion. I would really like a bit more thought to be given to this idea of taking water from another catchment into our own.
The Snowy hydro scheme diverted half of the water that once flowed east and made it flow west into the Murray-Darling Basin. This means there is now double the amount of water flowing through the basin that there should be. As well as the hydro scheme, land clearing, forestry and other agricultural practices have changed the amount of water that flows through the rivers.
All in all, there have been many changes to Australia’s river systems over the past 50 to 100 years. The main thing that has changed, though, is the demand for water. Thirsty agriculture and thirsty urban environments are putting more demands on our rivers than ever. It is time that we took responsibility for our own catchment. That means being efficient with our use of water. That means ensuring that our increased water needs due to population growth do not grow beyond what our catchments can supply.
As to the water purification plant, it is a huge energy-guzzling project. I have not really seen any evidence that we need it. We have not really been down the water efficiency road yet. As I said before, while people are still able to fill their swimming pools with potable water, we should not be discussing a water recycling plant. It is not just money that is being wasted here; it is energy. I know that we need real options, but this is a case where technology fixes should not be the first answer.
The government has been pleased with the reduction in water use due to water restrictions. There needs to be more focus on other ways to encourage people to reduce their water use. The newly labelled “switch your thinking” program might go some way towards doing this. Smart metering might be another positive step. Smart meters would place the information that each household needs to inform themselves about just how much water they are using on a regular basis.
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