Time to come clean over water

November 04, 2009

THE Southeast Queensland Water Supply Strategy is the Scarlet Pimpernel of public policy documents. Queenslanders may seek it here, they may seek it there, but they still won’t know if that damned elusive water supply strategy will mean heaven or hell for them.

An astonishing six years in the making (Peter Beattie first proposed it in 2003), the strategy will set a new course for future water supply options, including desalination and recycled water, and so has the potential to fundamentally change the way residents in Australia’s fastest-growing region go about their daily lives.

But these residents are currently being denied the right to know what is in it. For that, they can thank the Bligh Government and its unwillingness to trust the public with the great bulk of the information it holds.

Despite Premier Anna Bligh going on about the openness and accountability of her Government, information that actually matters to people is spun, sanitised or not released at all if it conflicts with the ever-changing political priorities of this increasingly skittish administration.

The final water supply strategy will reveal the locations of at least two desalination plants that the Government has already said will have to be built in southeast Queensland in the next 20 years. They may be needed much earlier if federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett vetoes the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam and the Government is left without a key part of its much-vaunted water grid. The dam is meant to supply 70,000 megalitres a year, about 27 per cent of the additional water the region will require by 2015. If it is scrapped that water will need to come from somewhere else.

Whatever Mr Garrett decides, the sheer pace of population growth means more desalination plants will be a part of the region’s future water supply plans. Indeed, the need to revise upwards population growth forecasts was given as one of the reasons the release of the water supply strategy has been delayed.

Residents living near where these plants may be built should know what the Government is planning at the earliest opportunity. In this case, that was months ago, when the Queensland Water Commission completed the final water supply strategy. Yet still, the strategy is being kept under wraps.

Ms Bligh now says she needs to know if the Traveston Dam will go ahead before she can decide how many extra desalination plants are needed, where they will be and when they will be built. Yet none of this seemed a concern before the election, when her deputy, Paul Lucas, promised that a final decision on the location of priority desalination plants would be announced by the middle of this year. Typically, even that announcement was accompanied by some obfuscation about how only a repeat of the “Millennium Drought” would force the Government to turn to more desalination. The Premier says she wants certainty for residents, but is refusing to part with the information that will provide that certainty until it suits her agenda not theirs.’
 

Rushing ruined Tugun desalination plant

Greg Stolz

November 09, 2009

FEARS the $1.2 billion Gold Coast desalination plant was rushed, compromising its quality, have been raised by officials overseeing the troubled project.

The Tugun plant, meant to be a showpiece of the State Government’s $9 billion water grid, has been plagued by problems including rusting pipes, cracking concrete, faulty valves and leaching of contaminants from a rubbish dump.

The Government is refusing to take delivery of the facility until next June because of serious faults that have delayed the handover by 18 months.

Now, documents obtained by The Courier-Mail under Freedom to Information laws reveal serious concerns were raised about the pace of construction.

Executives from what is now WaterSecure, the Government authority in charge of the water grid, held crisis talks in January this year after it became clear the technical problems would delay the plant from meeting its operational targets.

Minutes from an executive meeting reveal at least 10 problems with the plant had been identified, including excessive vibration and rusting and leaking parts.

“The EMT (executive management team) expressed concerns … about more issues and problems which may surface,” the minutes stated.

The executives, including current WaterSecure chief Keith Davies, held “lengthy discussions” about construction time versus quality and cost.

The mammoth plant was built in about two years by a consortium known as the Gold Coast Desalination Alliance, headed by French water giant Veolia and construction company John Holland.

“The EMT believes that the GCD Alliance have focused on time as a priority, compromising quality … ,” the meeting minutes said.

WaterSecure executives questioned whether Veolia and John Holland were liable for the faults and also sought legal advice. They also discussed withholding payments to the alliance.

“VWA (Veolia Water Australia) and John Holland stand to gain a lot of money from gain share,” the minutes said.

“If WaterSecure decides to withhold money, this will be a major issue.”

The minutes reveal WaterSecure officials held an emergency meeting in mid-January on the same day Deputy Premier Paul Lucas held a press conference at the plant to announce expected delays.

Officially opened by Premier Anna Bligh last November, the desalination plant has been periodically shut down for weeks at a time and has failed to meet production targets.

Last month Mr Davies said the facility had been running at full capacity that month.

But he said the faults were still being fixed and the Government was not expected to take ownership until next June.