Steve Gibbons (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to use this grievance debate to talk about water issues. Bendigo and central Victoria are, like many other regions throughout Australia, experiencing their driest conditions for many decades. If we continue to experience drought conditions, and there is every indication we will, then the nation will have to examine some radical solutions to ensure that we get adequate water for our ever-increasing demand.

One option that should be considered over the long term is desalinisation. There are numerous examples where desalinisation plants have been able to provide a constant supply of fresh water to even the driest of continents and Australia is the driest continent on earth. The desalinisation option is not an easy one as there are major obstacles to overcome. Finding an appropriate disposal or use of the waste material and the substantial energy cost to power the plant are just two. No-one would argue that these are minor problems, but if we are to continue to experience these dry conditions then desalinisation may be a viable option and possibly one of our only options.

An idea put to me a few years ago I believe is well worth investigating—a desalinisation plant on the east coast of Australia processing the vast resources of sea water, then pumping regulated amounts up into the Snowy Mountains and down into the Snowy and Murray river systems, perhaps via a new hydro-electric power station. The power generated by a new hydro-electric generation plant could offset the substantial energy costs associated with desalinisation. The waste product or salt could then be deposited back into the ocean. I realise that this sounds simple, but obviously it requires a more thorough examination than I am able to provide, especially in the time allowed in this debate.

This concept would virtually drought-proof large areas of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Using our natural river systems as distribution channels would not only provide a limited cost and an already constructed distribution system but also be of great benefit to our rivers by providing a regulated flow of fresh water, enriching the environmental condition of some of our major rivers. The benefits to the communities in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia would be substantial and, given that this applies to three states, the project would be a national responsibility and would deserve the attention of the national government.

A proposal to enhance central Victoria’s water supply should be, and is being, considered immediately. The state government has two feasibility studies under consideration through the Coliban Water Authority to examine the options of piping water either from the Waranga channel to the Campaspe Weir at Rochester or from the Waranga channel to Lake Eppalock where it could be transferred to Bendigo’s water supply when required. The Bracks state Labor government is quite correctly investigating both options, as you would expect from a responsible government tuned specifically to the needs of its constituents across the state of Victoria.

Whilst both proposals would appear to be beneficial to enhancing the region’s water supply, I believe the construction of a pipeline from the Waranga channel to Lake Eppalock would be by far the best option for the reasons I am about to outline. I intend to illustrate some other options that would complement this proposal and help drought-proof a significant area of Victoria. I set out the following reasons for supporting the Waranga to Lake Eppalock proposal in a letter to the Victorian Minister for Environment, Water and Victorian Communities on 27 April: a Waranga to Eppalock pipeline would ensure that the current environmental flows into the Campaspe River are maintained at current levels or increased as the need arises; downstream irrigators along the Campaspe could maintain current supplies without incurring pumping costs or restrictions due to the limits on capacity from the Waranga channel during the peak periods of demand; water from the Waranga channel could be purchased from the Goulburn Murray system on the open market in off-peak seasons and stored in Lake Eppalock, enhancing the delivery capacity of the Goulburn system; water stored in Lake Eppalock would provide an additional reserve and would be able to be transferred to Bendigo’s water supply, mostly via an existing pipeline; and an adequate and regular supply of water in Lake Eppalock would enhance recreational activities on the lake such as fishing and boating et cetera.

We can only imagine how a dry lake has impacted on the small communities that depend on Lake Eppalock for their economic wellbeing. Heathcote is a small town close to the lake that has felt the impact more than most, as the large numbers of recreational fishermen, waterskiers, yacht club members and the many other people who used the lake have had to find other locations to pursue their interests or recreational activities. The lake’s four caravan parks and the one hotel-motel have been substantially hit by the dry environment. Lake Eppalock is currently at just seven per cent capacity and in fact you can drive down the main public boat launching ramp and then across the lake bed onto the other side of the lake some two or three kilometres away—that is, if you can navigate the shrubs and weeds that have established themselves over the past few years.

It is interesting to look at the statistics prepared in 2003 on behalf of the City of Greater Bendigo, which state that Lake Eppalock was at 14 per cent capacity in 2003 when the study was completed and is currently at less than seven per cent. This compares with the level of the lake being at 48 per cent in the 2001-02 season and 98 per cent in the 2000-01 season. The major recreational activities are waterskiing and fishing, with eight commercial enterprises and 37 clubs and camps located around the lake. There was an estimated 358,036 visitor days per annum at the lake in a good season, with the peak season being from late October right through to Easter. The estimated economic impact of Lake Eppalock in central Victoria is measured as a total output of $19.7 million and a total number of jobs at around 206, with 133 direct jobs being affected. The patronage of the lake and the associated businesses for the 2002-03 season has dropped by as much as 80 per cent when compared to a normal season, with an estimated reduction of patronage of 285,400 visitor days.

The Waranga to Campaspe Weir option would deliver benefits to that region only when Lake Eppalock’s capacity is back to adequate, which has not happened for many years, and even then the benefits would be minimal compared with the Waranga to Eppalock option. I believe the Waranga to Eppalock option is by far the most beneficial as it encompasses substantial benefits for the local government regions of Macedon Ranges, Mount Alexander, Greater Bendigo and Campaspe and the approximately 190,000 people who reside in these regions.

Given that these local government regions stand to gain the obvious benefits from an enhanced water supply, it would not be unreasonable to expect them to contribute towards the cost of construction, along with the affected water authorities and the state government. The Commonwealth government’s Water Smart Australia program suggests that there might be an opportunity for the federal government to participate in this type of program. I quote paragraph 43, under ‘Eligibility criteria—national interest test’, which states:

Projects must clearly produce significant national interest benefits. Proposals with local benefits that do not demonstrate broader public advantages (such as significant innovation or national demonstration value) are unlikely to receive a priority ranking.

It could be argued quite easily that the Waranga to Lake Eppalock pipeline proposal would meet the criteria set out in the guidelines for the Commonwealth’s Water Smart Australia program. By comparison, the Waranga to Rochester Weir option would have little chance of meeting that required criteria. If the option of a Waranga to Lake Eppalock pipeline were adopted, it would provide a vast reserve of fresh water concentrated in central Victoria and ready to be distributed wherever it is needed.

Another proposal under consideration is to pipe water from Geelong to Ballarat and from the Cairn Curran Reservoir in central Victoria to Ballarat. This proposal would be greatly enhanced by another idea put to me recently which involves the construction of an additional pipeline from Bendigo’s Big Hill Reservoir to the Cairn Curran Reservoir.

If the Waranga to Lake Eppalock proposal were adopted, it would allow water to be pumped from the Goulburn-Murray system, through Lake Eppalock, into the Big Hill Reservoir, into the Cairn Curran Reservoir and on to Ballarat and Geelong. This would link the water supply systems of the three major regional centres in Victoria, providing an immense benefit to those regions by giving them the ability to pump water from different directions, depending on need and availability. Our three regional centres would have the extra option of obtaining water from additional sources during the off-peak winter months and storing the water in already established reservoirs. This is not an unrealistic plan by any measure, and it is entirely achievable in both engineering and financial terms.

The idea of a desalination plant on the New South Wales coast and the construction of linking pipelines in Victoria may sound a little radical but, as I said before, we may have little choice if we continue to suffer from acute water shortages. We have the necessary technical and engineering skills in this country to make this plan work, and it should be considered seriously by our communities. The concept of piping water from Waranga to Lake Eppalock is currently being considered, and the idea of connecting the water supply systems of our main regional centres of Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong, utilising the Commonwealth’s Water Smart Australia program, should be considered in the future. (Time expired)