Adequacy of Water Storages in New South Wales
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Standing Committee on State Development Adequacy of water storages in New South Wales Ordered to be printed 26 June 2013 according to Standing Order 231 Report 37 - June 2013 i LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Adequacy of water storages in NSW New South Wales Parliamentary Library cataloguing-in-publication data: New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. Standing Committee on State Development. Adequacy of water storages in New South Wales / Standing Committee on State Development. [Sydney, N.S.W.] : the Committee, 2013. – [xxii, 194] p. ; 30 cm. (Report / Standing Committee on State Development; no. 37) Chair: Hon. Rick Colless, MLC. “June 2013”. ISBN 9781921286902 Water—Storage—New South Wales. Water—Storage—Management. Water-supply, Agricultural—New South Wales. Water-supply—New South Wales. Title Colless, Rick. New South Wales. Parliament. Standing Committee on State Development. Report ; no. 37 628.13 (DDC22) ii Report 37 - June 2013 STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT How to contact the Committee Members of the Standing Committee on State Development can be contacted through the Committee Secretariat. Written correspondence and enquiries should be directed to: The Director Standing Committee on State Development Legislative Council Parliament House, Macquarie Street Sydney New South Wales 2000 Internet www.parliament.nsw.gov.au Email [email protected] Telephone 02 9230 3081 Facsimile 02 9230 2981 Report 37 - June 2013 iii LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Adequacy of water storages in NSW Terms of reference That the Standing Committee on State Development inquire into and report on the adequacy of water storages in NSW, and in particular: a) the capacity of existing water storages to meet agricultural, urban, industrial and environmental needs, b) models for determining water requirements for the agricultural, urban, industrial and environmental sectors, c) storage management practices to optimise water supply to the agricultural, urban, industrial and environmental sectors, d) proposals for the construction and/or augmentation of water storages in NSW with regard to storage efficiency, engineering feasibility, safety, community support and cost benefit, e) water storages and management practices in other Australian and international jurisdictions, f) any other matter relating to the adequacy of water storages in NSW. These terms of reference were referred to the Committee by Hon Katrina Hodgkinson, MP, Minister for Primary Industries, and were adopted by the Committee on 28 May 2012. iv Report 37 - June 2013 STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT Committee membership The Hon Rick Colless MLC The Nationals Chairman The Hon Mick Veitch MLC Australian Labor Party Deputy Chairman The Hon Paul Green MLC Christian Democratic Party The Hon Charlie Lynn MLC Liberal Party The Hon Dr Peter Phelps MLC Liberal Party The Hon Steve Whan MLC Australian Labor Party Report 37 - June 2013 v LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Adequacy of water storages in NSW Table of contents Chair’s foreword xi Executive summary xiii Summary of recommendations xix Acronyms xxii Conversions xxii Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Conduct of the inquiry 1 Terms of reference 1 Submissions 1 Public hearings 1 Site visits 2 Report structure 2 Chapter 2 Water storages in New South Wales 5 Present water storages 5 Allocation of water 7 The cost of water 9 Principal New South Wales water agencies 10 NSW Office of Water 10 Metropolitan Water Directorate 11 Sydney Catchment Authority 11 State Water Corporation 12 Local water utilities 14 NSW Dam Safety Committee 16 Commonwealth water requirements 17 National Water Initiative 17 National Urban Water Planning Principles 17 Murray Darling Basin Plan 18 Assessment process for new or augmented storages 19 Urban storages 19 Rural storages 20 A key issues for the inquiry: reliable water supply 20 vi Report 37 - June 2013 STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT Chapter 3 Role of water storages 23 Reducing variability 23 Flood mitigation 24 Should dams have an ongoing role in flood mitigation? 26 Support for the flood mitigation role 27 Storing water for competing end users 30 Committee comment 32 Chapter 4 Urban, agricultural and industrial water 35 The water allocation system 35 Committee comment 36 Urban water 37 Strategies to improve water security 37 Interconnection of supply 40 Urban water conservation measures 43 A focus on demand management practices 46 The need to plan for growth 49 Committee comment 50 Agricultural water 51 Adapting on-farm practices 52 Encouraging change 58 Committee comment 60 Fixed water charges during drought conditions 61 Committee comment 62 Industrial water 62 Committee comment 64 Chapter 5 Environmental issues 65 Impact of water storages on the environment 65 Variability of water releases 69 Cold water releases 72 Committee comment 74 Environmental flow allocations and management 75 Participants’ concerns 77 Committee comment 81 Chapter 6 Storage management practices 83 Modelling systems 83 Concerns with the Integrated Quantity and Quality Model 85 Modelling in a variable climate 88 Report 37 - June 2013 vii LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Adequacy of water storages in NSW Future planning and predictive capability 89 Water monitoring 92 Computer Aided River Management (CARM) 93 Committee comment 99 Storage management practices in greater Sydney area 100 Accessing deep water 101 Minimising evaporation 102 Menindee Lakes 104 Committee comment 109 Lake Alexandrina 109 Committee comment 111 Dam safety practices 111 Safety requirements for prescribed dams 112 Non-prescribed dams 113 State Water’s dam safety program 114 Review of the Dam Safety Committee 120 Committee comment 120 Chapter 7 Future water storage solutions 121 Issues to be considered in assessment of new proposals 121 Environmental impacts 123 Who should pay? 124 Should storage capacity be increased? 126 In support of increased capacity 126 Proposals for additional storage 129 Opposition to specific proposals 134 Better use of existing water supply 139 En-route or on line storages 141 Linking supply 145 Further options to enhance water capacity 146 Committee comment 147 An integrated approach 148 Committee comment 152 Appendix 1 Submissions 155 Appendix 2 Witnesses at hearings 159 Appendix 3 Site visits 161 Appendix 4 Answers to questions on notice 163 Appendix 5 Tendered documents 164 viii Report 37 - June 2013 STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT Appendix 6 Capacity of the Sydney Catchment Authority’s storages 167 Appendix 7 Major NSW Rural Water Storages operated by State Water Corporation 168 Appendix 8 State Water dam safety upgrade program 169 Appendix 9 Minutes 171 Report 37 - June 2013 ix LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Adequacy of water storages in NSW Cases Case study: Improving irrigation in the Australian cotton industry – the Keytah Project 55 Case study: Barren Box Storage and Wetland 103 Case study: Copeton Dam fuse plug 114 Figures Figure 1 Water storages in New South Wales and responsible agency 6 Figure 2 Greater Sydney’s Water Supply System 13 Figure 3 The 2011-2012 season summary: the water applied and used by the crop for each system is presented with its average production output 56 Figure 4 Computer Aided River Management 96 x Report 37 - June 2013 STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT Chair’s foreword Over the previous two decades there have been many changes to the administration of water throughout New South Wales. In the year 2000, the Water Management Act separated the ownership of land and water resources, created water sharing plans and introduced regular environmental flows as releases of water from existing storages. Last year the Murray Darling Basin Plan foreshadowed the transfer of 2,750 gigalitres of water from the irrigation industry to environmental flows into the Darling and Murray Rivers, Lakes Alexandrina and Albert and the Coorong in South Australia. During this period there has been substantial agricultural irrigation and industrial development in New South Wales, and the transfer of water away from these industries has caused considerable concern in regional communities, particularly during the recent severe drought in western New South Wales. It was within this context that the terms of reference for this inquiry were referred to the Committee by the Minister for Primary Industries, the Hon Katrina Hodgkinson MP, in May 2012. The terms of reference did not restrict the Committee’s investigations to just water storages. We were also requested to investigate many issues surrounding the management of water in the storages and in rivers once it has been released for environmental and consumptive uses. The beginning of the second decade in the new millennium saw the State inundated by flood water, with an estimated 6,500 gigalitres of water flowing through the Menindee Lakes Scheme over a three month period in 2011-2012. Capturing just 20 per cent of this flood water would provide extra storage equivalent to the full capacity of Copeton Dam on the Gwydir River system. Any potential new long term storages would need to be located in upland areas where efficient storage (that is, a high ratio of storage capacity to full supply level surface area) can be achieved. Existing storages in lower areas in the Murray Darling Basin, in particular the Menindee Lakes and the Lower Murray Lakes in South Australia, have very low efficiencies because of shallow storage depths and very large surface areas. These storages need to be improved by a range of measures to effect substantial water savings by reducing evaporation.