The Guardian 15 February, 2006
Sydney's desalination plant:
Iemma goes to water
In a victory for the people of NSW the Iemma Government has deferred construction of the
proposed desalination plant at Botany Bay, near the historic Captain Cook Landing Site.
The government has also shelved plans to raise the Tallowa Dam, a project vigorously
opposed by residents of the NSW South Coast. A pilot desalination plant will still be
built.
The two consortia bidding for the contract will receive $10 million each in compensation for deferral
of the project. The NSW taxpayer will also foot an additional bill of $100 million for the cost of
acquiring the site and building the pilot plant.
The desalination proposal was initially promoted by former NSW Premier Bob Carr, and his
Minister for Utilities, Craig Knowles. Both these gentlemen left office last year accompanied by a
distinct and unpleasant odour.
Carr immediately went to work as a lobbyist for the rapacious Macquarie Bank. He claimed to
support development of alternative energy sources, but did little to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Instead the state's electricity power plants became even more reliant on coal and huge funds were
dedicated to new road networks, while public transport was grossly underfunded.
Carr instigated a great many "public/private partnerships" for infrastructure, which are now being
revealed as either thoroughly inadvisable or reeking of corruption. Witness the drama and scandal
surrounding the highly unpopular city tunnel!
The desalination plant would have cost billions of dollars, polluted the Bay's water, and consumed
huge amounts of electricity.
One of the contenders for construction of the plant was the Macquarie Bank.
The government's latest decision is based on the highly dubious assumption that adequate water
supplies may be obtained by draining two newly-discovered aquifers.
Scientists have warned that large-scale extraction from aquifers will sooner or later drain adjacent
creeks and springs. This practice has caused ruinous salination of soil in vast areas of rural NSW,
and resulted in critical water acidity in Perth.
The government's latest move does not signal a major change in government policy, and is
woefully belated. The aquifers would be used if existing dam levels fell below 40 percent of
capacity and the desalination plant resurrected if the levels fell below 30 percent. The government
has not altered its previously stated intention of gaining only an extra 13 percent of capacity by
recycling water.
The Iemma Government has not changed its policies, just deferred (and very reluctantly) to public
opinion. Pressure will have to be maintained for the development of a sustainable and
environmentally sound water policy in NSW.