Water report 'kept secret'
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in Carolyn Tucker, Costs, Dam Alternatives, Desalination
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9 January 2008
By Carolyn Tucker
Dam opponents claim the government has inadvertantly admitted that desalination would offer a cheaper, quicker and more reliable solution to south-east Queensland’s water woes.
And they believe it is likely that a half-a-million-dollar report prepared by professional services giant Gutteridge, Haskins and Davey has been kept under wraps because it supports their argument.
The government has confirmed that $512,000 was paid to GHD for “investigation of desalination options for South East Queensland’’ in 2005-06 but said the advice was not provided in a single report and therefore could not be released.
On Sunday, acting premier Paul Lucas announced that $125 million would be spent on preliminary works to build two mobile desalination plants if the drought worsens.
Mr Lucas acknowledged that new water sources may be needed years before the Traveston dam can top up supplies.
“By starting work straight away, up to an extra 144 megalitres a day in contingency supplies can be added to the region by the end of next year,’’ he said.
Mr Lucas said the government would assess water security at the end of the wet season to determine if the mobile plants were necessary.
“The cost of those temporary plants – if they proceed – is around $550 million and they would be ready in late 2009,’’ he said. “The options we’ve chosen to pursue further are the most effective in terms of cost and likelihood of success.’’
The opposition’s spokesperson for infrastructure, Fiona Simpson, said Mr Lucas’s statements had exposed the $1.7 billion Traveston dam as a cruel hoax and highlighted the government’s “bizarre’’ attitude to water infrastructure.
“It is clear these mobile plants can be built sooner and for less than the cost of the dam without all the harrowing consequences,” Miss Simpson said.
“We believe that a permanent desalination plant is a better option still because it would have less environmental impact, but whatever way you look at it, the dam is an incredibly dumb idea.”
Mr Lucas denied that desalination would offer a more cost-effective solution to the water solution and challenged Miss Simpson to state where she would build a plant north of Brisbane.
Kevin Ingersole, from the Save the Mary River group, said Mr Lucas’s announcement proved that the government knew desalination could do the job.
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12 Jan 2008
Simpson says ‘open up’ on desal plans
THE Queensland Opposition has called for a little bit of integrity and initiative from the State Government over the big viable alternative to the Traveston Crossing dam - desalination.
Acting Nationals leader and Shadow Infrastructure Minister, Fiona Simpson, towed the Gold Coast City Council’s Tugun desalination plant this week and called for the State Government to show similar initiative.
And she said a good start would be the release of secret reports, believed to show desalination is substantially cheaper than the Traveston Crossing dam proposal.
Accusing the State Government of suffering from a “self-made water crisis,” she said: “The Gold Coast City Council had the foresight to build a desalination plant because they knew they needed a climate-independent water source to supply this fast-growing area”
She said the government should catch up by releasing still-secret State Government reports she said outlined other possible South East Queensland desalination plant sites.
“The Government has spent $2 million identifying potential sites, but they haven’t breathed a word of the report’s findings. Queenslanders have a right to know this information,” she said.
“The State Government this week admitted the dam, which would come on line in 2012/13 may not save Queensland from drought in the next couple of years and announced plans to spent $125 million immediately on preparing for two desalination barges on the Brisbane River at undisclosed locations. “So release the reports,” she said yesterday.
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MP: Desal is a bargaining option
12 Jan 2008
Story: Arthur Gorrie
THE State Government has revealed a lack of financial acumen with its failure to recognise desalination as a bargain solution to Brisbane’s water crisis, Gympie MP Dave Gibson said yesterday.
Commenting on plans for mobile desalination plants on the Brisbane River, announced by Deputy Premier Paul Lucas at the weekend, Mr Gibson said it was about time.
Firstly I want to commend the Government for finally looking to additional non climate dependant sources of water to address this water crisis,” Mr Gibson said.
However, he said the announcement also showed that Mr Lucas could not recognise a good deal when presented with one.
“If he just looked at the numbers he would see that the cost of water from the mobile desalination barges is just $12,857.O& per megalitre compared with $28,571.00 per megalitre for water from the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.
“This represents a saving of more than 50 per cent in the cost of the water not to mention the reduction in pumping costs as the barges would be located directly where the water is needed in South East Queensland not some 160km away to the north.
“Put simply that’s more than $l billion less that this Government needs to raise in taxes to pay for the water.
“Desalination should not be our fire insurance policy as Mr Lucas describes it. It should be the way forward to water security,” Mr Gibson said.
“It is clearly cheaper, and is not dependent on the climate.”
Mr Gibson said Mr Lucas often seemed mixed up on details of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.
“In November last year he claimed in the Parliament that the Traveston Crossing Dam ‘would be 50 kilometres from the coast whereas Wivenhoe is more than 200 kilometres from the coast.”
“But the Wivenhoe dam is also approximately 50 kilometres from the coast.
“There have also been recent false claims that the Traveston Crossing dam site was in flood.
“We’ve all become used to these political games. Beattie tried when it last rained and got the dam wrong.
“It’s time for Mr Lucas to stop playing political games and look at the numbers to determine what is the most cost effective way to provide water security for South East Queensland,” Mr Gibson said.
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