States lukewarm on pipeline plan

State authorities in Queensland and New South Wales have given a guarded response to federal Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s plan to pump water north over the border.

Today Mr Turnbull released a report which proposed damming the Clarence or Tweed Rivers in northern New South Wales and pumping the water into the Logan River south of Brisbane.

The plan would be aimed at alleviating drought conditions in south-east Queensland, where Brisbane has just become the first Australian capital city to move to level five water restrictions.

Mr Turnbull says the study shows the pumping scheme is a relatively affordable option.

“We’ve got to make sure the Queensland Government is interested, then we’ve got to persuade New South Wales to cooperate,” he said.

But New South Wales Water Minister Phil Koperberg says the plan is still too vague for him to be able to offer his support.

“Whether the devil is buried in the detail remains to be seen,” he said.

Queensland’s Deputy Premier Anna Bligh says she is keeping an open mind.

“If it stacks up and Malcolm Turnbull wants to pay for it then of course we’ll be happy to talk to him,” she said.

Ms Bligh says Mr Turnbull’s plan will not halt construction on the pipelines and dams already being built in south-east Queensland.

Concern over pipeline plans

The NSW Environment Minister, Phil Koperburg says he is concerned about a Federal Government plan to build a water pipeline from northern New South Wales to Queensland..

Mr Koperburg says the Federal Water Minister, Malcom Turnbull, is supporting the National Water Commission plan which he says is based on inaccurate information.

The plan involves damming the Clarence River and piping water to southern Queensland.

Mr Koperburg says the plan does not take into account the growing population of the north coast, farming needs, or future water consumption.

“So we’re far from satisfied - A - that it’s feasible, -B - that it’s cost effective,” he said.

“We have not got the faintest idea what the report says about downstream environmental impact.”

“The farmers around the Clarence would, as one would expect have some concern about the prospect of a weir or a dam either on the Mann or the Clarence.”

Council vows to fight Clarence River dam proposal

The Clarence Valley Council, in north-east New South Wales, says it will oppose any plans to take water from the Clarence River to pipe into Queensland.

The Mayor, Ian Tiley, says the proposal will damage the health of the river, and residents will fight to protect the waterway.

“If there’s one issue that unites the vast majority of the Clarence people it’s the mighty Clarence River and the council and I believe the vast majority of people in this valley are totally opposed to any diversion of the Clarence and we’ll stand shoulder to shoulder and fight with the Clarence citizens to fight any diversion proposals,” councillor Tiley said.

But the Federal Water Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is pushing ahead with the National Water Commission plan to dam the Clarence River and pipe water to Queensland.

The Federal Government’s water-sharing announcement comes just days after south-east Queensland adopted strict level five water restrictions.

The Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation prepared the report which argues that the Clarence River in northern New South Wales should be dammed, and the water pumped into the Logan River in Queensland.

“This approach is very feasible and it offers an additional source of water security for south-east Queensland,” Mr Turnbull said.

He says the plan is viable and cost-effective and is urging the states to leave rivalry to state of origin football and cooperate on water projects.

Seeney urges Beattie to support water plan

The State Opposition is urging the Beattie government to get behind a federal plan to redirect water from northern New South Wales into Queensland.

Federal Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull will today release a report showing it would be viable and cost effective to dam the Clarence River and pipe the water north, over the border.

Opposition leader Jeff Seeney says it is a far better option than the Beattie Government’s proposed dam on the Mary River.

“It raises the question of why on earth the state government won’t look at the obvious options before it pursues the high cost disastrous option of Traveston dam,” he said

Brisbane Deputy Mayor says pipeline proposal is ‘positive’

Brisbane’s Labor Deputy Mayor says a proposal to pipe water from northern New South Wales to south-east Queensland should be considered.

Both the Prime Minister and the federal Water Minister are pushing the plan to dam the Clarence River in northern New South Wales and divert the water into Queensland.

It has received a lukewarm response from both States.

But Councillor David Hinchliffe says all the options should be on the table.

“I think we should keep an open mind about all these suggestions,” Cr Hinchliffe said.

“It seems to be a positive initiative that requires research and if it can work then why wouldn’t we accept it and get on with it.”

NSW farmers damn pipeline plan
Cosima Marriner and Phillip Coorey

April 13, 2007

NSW farmers, environmentalists and politicians have criticised a $1.5 billion Federal Government plan to dam northern NSW rivers and pump water into parched south-eastern Queensland.

However, the Prime Minister, John Howard, insisted solving the country’s water crisis was more important than bickering over state borders.

“It’s Australian water, it’s not NSW water. It’s Australian water, and I think Australian water should be available for Australians on terms that are fair and equitable for people in all parts of the country,” he said yesterday.

Two days after tough level 5 water restrictions were introduced in Queensland, the federal Minister for the Environment, Malcolm Turnbull, yesterday released a report outlining five options for a cross-border pipeline to shore up town water supplies in south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern NSW.

The report by the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation said building a 250,000 megalitre dam on the Clarence River upstream from Duck Creek would be “the best value for money”. The dam and pipeline would divert 15 per cent of the Clarence’s flow and would cost an estimated $1.5 billion to build. It would deliver 100,000 kilolitres a year, more than 80 per cent of which would be pumped into Queensland.

NSW farmers are angry their water could be sent interstate. “Why don’t they build their own dams up in Queensland,” asked Lance Hooton, whose 1600-hectare cattle property straddles Duck Creek. “We’re not going to benefit from it.”

The NSW Premier, Morris Iemma, said the State Government did not support the proposal. “There’s a thriving fishing, prawning and boating industry in northern NSW,” he said. “[Mr Howard] might have to explain to the tens of thousands of jobs and communities up there … where their water is going to come from, if he’s going to divert it.”

The federal Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, refused to state his position on the proposal, insisting he needed to see the details and consult the Queensland Government before deciding whether to support it.

Labor said the engineering corporation report had conceded its financial analysis was based on “sweeping assumptions due to the restricted time frame, the nature of the study and the lack of access to recent financial data”.

A backlash against the proposed pipeline could dim the Coalition’s chances of winning back Richmond from Labor in the federal election and strain its hold on the marginal seat of Page, which is being vacated by the retiring Nationals MP, Ian Causley.

The Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, said he had an open mind about the pipeline, but warned it could be on the never-never, given the NSW Government’s opposition to the plan. The Queensland Government is pressing ahead with the construction of the controversial Traveston Crossing Dam near Gympie, which is due to be completed in 2011.

Even if the states do support the cross-border pipeline, Mr Turnbull admitted it could be more than five years before it was completed. He said the Federal Government would “support” the project’s construction, but said the Queensland Government would have to fund most of the cost, as its constituents would receive the most benefit.

Green groups said damming the Clarence would be enormously destructive to bird life and fish. “The solution to our urban water crisis lies in a widespread roll-out of rainwater tanks, increased recycling and stopping water wastage,” said the head of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Cate Faehrmann.

The Nationals MP for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, said Mr Turnbull “should get in a kayak and go up the Clarence … and see the pristine nature of this and the delicate nature of our water system”.

 
PM blasts states’ water blockade

Sean Parnell
April 18, 2007

THE Labor states were being insensitive to farmers and drought-ravaged bush communities by seeking to contain the nation’s water resources within their borders, John Howard said yesterday.
After visiting irrigators near the low-lying Wivenhoe Dam in southeast Queensland, the Prime Minister told a community meeting at nearby Lowood the states were wrong to reject a proposal to pump water to the region from the northern rivers of NSW.

Mr Howard restated his belief that Australians, not the states, owned the nation’s water resources and sought to demonstrate how a Labor victory at the federal election would allow mismanagement to continue.

“This is not a time to play parochial politics on water,” Mr Howard said. “This is a time to recognise that if a state border stands between the availability of water in one part of the nation and a shortage of water in another, and that shortage can be met without unfairly injuring the position of those where the water is more plentiful, then a state boundary should be swept aside.”

While conceding only rain could bring an end to the drought, Mr Howard said Victoria should sign up to his $10 billion Murray-Darling package and Queensland and NSW should support federal Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s push for a cross-border pipeline.

“This is an Australian problem and I think Australians will grow increasingly angry if people continue to behave as Victorians, or New South Welshmen or Queenslanders,” Mr Howard said. “They want them to behave as Australians because it’s a national problem that should be solved without regard to state borders.”

Mr Howard said “every state government in Australia has mismanaged city water and mismanaged water in provincial areas as well”.

While Queensland and NSW initially rejected the idea of a cross-border pipeline, the states now refuse to rule it out, effectively calling Mr Turnbull’s bluff after he rushed through a consultant’s report to declare the project should go ahead.

Flanked by Australian flags, in a dusty town hall filled to the rafters, Mr Howard yesterday appeared every bit the electioneer as he described the gathering as one of “real Australia”.

He had no criticism of the irrigators he met ahead of the meeting but said the over-allocation of water resources was a “chronic problem”. He acknowledged Queensland farmers could be targeted under a $3 billion scheme to buy back water allocations but said it would not happen while the Murray-Darling package was a “three-legged horse” lacking Victoria’s support.