Page 1433 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2009
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The ACT is not alone in facing these issues, which are a major problem for the southern Murray-Darling Basin and for most other Australian capital cities. In our coastal capital cities, the decision has been to install large-scale desalination plants drawing upon sea water as the source of supply. These plants carry billion-dollar price tags and create significant greenhouse gas problems. The 60-plus wind turbines which have recently been established in our region at Lake George are evidence of the New South Wales water corporation’s response to meeting the greenhouse gas costs of Sydney’s new desalination plant.
Research into climate variability and potential climate change in our region has been carried out by the major research institutions, such as the CSIRO, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority—formerly the Murray-Darling Basin Commission—and the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate, which is a joint CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology partnership. This information and advice has guided water planning for the ACT. All of this research has identified our region as being one of the badly affected areas in the Murray-Darling Basin. Our actual experience is tracking at worse outcomes than those predicted under the modelling.
To provide some historical background, our long-term average inflow performance is 200 gigalitres per year. In the federation drought of 1901 to 1914 the inflow was 101 gigalitres per year. In the World War II drought, the inflow was 97 gigalitres per year. Over the last 15 years, the average inflow has been 93 gigalitres per year; over the last seven years, the average has been 67 gigalitres per year; and, of most concern, over the last three years, the average inflow has been only 46 gigalitres per year. The last seven-year inflow is worse than the CSIRO 2030 worst-case prediction made in 2007, and the last three-year average is worse than the CSIRO’s 2070 worst-case prediction.
It is hard to attribute exact proportions to climate change versus ordinary drought in these circumstances, but one thing that is clear is that the situation has deteriorated significantly and swiftly with another major decline since Actew’s last water security report. Working with Actew, the government has undertaken a number of comprehensive reviews, with the 2007 report on future water options being the most recent. That review provided detailed advice to government on the most prudent means of securing water security for the territory and region.
A key theme of the Actew 2007 review was to provide a greater diversity of water sources, including sources not reliant on rainfall within our existing catchments. In October 2007 the government, in response to Actew’s future water options review and its own water security task force report, announced a number of infrastructure and demand management measures to provide for water security.
The key measures approved by the government include the construction of an enlarged Cotter Dam to create a 78 gigalitre storage, up from its current capacity of only four gigalitres; the investigation of the progression of the Murrumbidgee to Googong transfer project and undertaking the required design and commencement of approvals; the investigation of arrangements for the Tantangara transfer option of purchasing water entitlements and releasing that water from Tantangara and pumping
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