Page 1436 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2009
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environment. In particular, the increased flows down the Murrumbidgee, with greater releases from Tantangara dam, will help restore flow to the river. The diversion of the water at Angle Crossing will be subject to environmental flow guidelines, so there will be no damage to the river between there and the confluence with the Molonglo River.
Recognising our place in the Murray Darling Basin at the head of the Murrumbidgee, areas downstream of the ACT will benefit from increased flows and higher quality water in the flows. The enlarged Cotter Dam will capture the environmental flows released from our storage up river and will continue to see environmental flows released down river. Over 50 percent of the ACT’s water will continue to be returned to the Murrumbidgee river system after treatment. In summer the ACT is a major water source for the upper Murrumbidgee. Finally, as I have already outlined, the government has agreed to Actew setting aside additional funds for the carbon offsets of these new infrastructure works.
I can advise that Actew is well advanced already in the case of the Murrumbidgee to Googong pipeline project in the provision of necessary documentation for the ACT Planning and Land Authority and with the relevant New South Wales planning authorities. Extensive research has been carried out on not only the engineering aspects but also the environmental impacts of these projects. Actew has carried out considerable consultation with interested groups, local government bodies, New South Wales landowners and rural lessees in the Angle Crossing and Burra Creek area. Actew has also undertaken considerable community consultation on the impacts of the enlarged Cotter Dam over the last 15 months and is developing a comprehensive fish management strategy for the Cotter catchment to ensure the protection of all aquatic species.
Ensuring water security is not costless. The initial costings of these infrastructure projects on future water prices have already been considered and factored into the new price path by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission in its 2008 price path report. We expect the projects to potentially face further cost pressures, and Actew has been charged with keeping the government fully informed on cost movements.
Any cost increases will be considered by the Independent Competition and Regulation Commission and may, if necessary, be factored into future price determinations. The government is satisfied that the approach we have set for the ACT and region’s water security is the least-cost approach when considering the costs to the community of ongoing stringent water restrictions, the loss of amenity and presence in our city and the nation’s capital and the cost of the infrastructure works involved.
The Labor government takes sustainable water resource planning and management very seriously. Clearly, managing for water security in these times is also about managing risk. The actions I have outlined today demonstrate that we are effectively managing the risk of declining rainfall stream flows. The government is getting on with the job of protecting our current water security and planning wisely to provide the necessary water resources for our long-term future. We are also acting responsibly by testing and reassessing our plans and projections in an environment where the impact of climate change is volatile, to say the least.
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