The News Review:
- GOP cites warming in bid for new dams
- Melbourne water stores to last 18 months
- Most happy with desalinated water
- Dry Downs may tap into Wivenhoe
GOP cites warming in bid for new dams
San Francisco Chronicle – Feb 1, 2007
Predictions of how much water California will need by 2030 vary substantially. Demand for water for farming is expected to decline, while water for urban needs will increase. The Department of Water Resources has developed models that show if current trends continue, overall demand will decrease slightly over the next two decades, while a scenario that envisions more intensive water consumption would increase demand by 4 million acre-feet. Schwarzenegger notes that his new bond proposal includes money for other ways of storing water, such as conservation and refilling depleted aquifers. “Conservation is very important — we totally agree with the environmentalists,” he said in the interview. “But I think at the same time we need to build above-the-ground storage. That’s something we need to work out with them and make them more comfortable with it…
“We don’t believe new dams at this point are needed,” said Perata at the unveiling of the Senate Democrats’ plan. “They cost billions and take years to build. We want more water supply and better flood protection as quickly and as cheaply as possible. ” Temperance Flat — which would largely benefit Central Valley growers — is misguided, Nelson and Perata said, because in 7 out of every 10 years, the existing dam diverts the entire flow of the San Joaquin, leaving the river downstream bone dry. In those years, a new dam would store no additional water. Sites would be filled by water channeled off the Sacramento River. Environmentalists fear the project would further damage the delta’s ailing ecosystem.
Melbourne water stores to last 18 months
NEWS.com.au – Feb 1, 2007
The alarming water shortfall has prompted experts to warn that the state won’t cope with a population increase. Industry groups have also warned the drought will raise the cost of goods and services. Yesterday Melbourne Water water supply manager John Woodland said it would take at least seven years of average rainfall to refill the city’s dams. Melbourne’s average yearly rainfall is 639mm, but 438mm fell last year. Mr Woodland stressed the city would not run out of water because of continued inflows from streams, plans to reconnect the Tarago Reservoir by 2010, increased savings through restrictions and increased water recycling. Even if Melbourne can scrape through the drought, a State Government aim for another one million people in the next 25 years is under threat with rainfall expected to dip by 20 per cent over the same period. Government figures have also predicted a shortfall in water supply of 155,000 megalitres by 2030 based on present low flows into reservoirs…
Mr Woodland stressed the city would not run out of water because of continued inflows from streams, plans to reconnect the Tarago Reservoir by 2010, increased savings through restrictions and increased water recycling. Even if Melbourne can scrape through the drought, a State Government aim for another one million people in the next 25 years is under threat with rainfall expected to dip by 20 per cent over the same period. Government figures have also predicted a shortfall in water supply of 155,000 megalitres by 2030 based on present low flows into reservoirs. As the debate over water solutions continues, the state’s peak industry body, the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned household prices for goods and services would rise because of the shortages. "It will inevitably put further cost pressures on households," chief economist Steven Wojkiw said. "Industry cannot continue to rely on a resource that’s shrinking without having more constraints or price pressure put on it. " Yesterday, a spokesman for Water Minister John Thwaites said the Government was meeting Melbourne’s water challenges and had already started an upgrade of the Eastern Treatment Plant, as well as a business case study into the Eastern Recycling Project and a feasibility study into a desalination plant.
Most happy with desalinated water
NEWS.com.au – Feb 1, 2007
Mr Evans said a new CSIRO report which warned Sydney could move to "harsh, dry conditions within 25 years" proved SA needed desalination. He said it underlined the need for Australia to move to non-climate dependent water supplies without delay. "It’s time for SA to have a water plan and we will build a desalination plant to underpin Adelaide’s supply and take pressure off the Murray," Mr Evans said. "Desalination is the way of the future. This water is safe, tastes good and we know the technology works. " Early this week, The Advertiser revealed the Opposition proposal to build a desalination plant based on the Perth plant which began operating late last year and now provides up to 17 per cent of that city’s fresh water supplies. The proposal, with possible sites at Port Stanvac or at Pelican Point, would provide 22 per cent of Adelaide’s water.
Dry Downs may tap into Wivenhoe
NEWS.com.au – Feb 1, 2007
The pipeline was recommended as the only viable solution to Toowoomba’s water shortage by a taskforce of state and local government bureaucrats and Toowoomba business people. The pipeline is designed to provide long-term water security and will be fast-tracked to allow it to provide emergency water supplies if Toowoomba’s dams run dry, as predicted, in early 2009. The interim report of the Water Supply Task Force was presented to Premier Peter Beattie in December but has been withheld from the public until The Courier-Mail obtained a copy this week. The taskforce was appointed six months ago and asked to find water for the city after residents resoundingly rejected drinking recycled sewage at a referendum in July last year. Ironically, the report’s recommendation for a pipeline from Wivenhoe will force residents to drink recycled water as the Government plans to pump it into the dam from late next year. The Wivenhoe to Perseverance pipeline will cost $95. 7 million and stretch 47km…
"Although (the Wivenhoe Pipeline) does not offer the lowest capital and operating costs of those options assessed, it does represent the most diversified future supply strategy both spatially and in respect of source type which will reduce Toowoomba’s ongoing susceptibility to drought," the report found. Toowoomba currently uses 18,000ml of water per year but consumption is expected to rise to 27,000ml by 2051. Use of Toowoomba’s existing water resources, including underground basalt aquifers and the Great Artesian Basin, will be stepped up as dam levels fall. There are no plans to buy rural water entitlements for the city from irrigators who have offered to sell their water. Share this article.