FIRST PROGRESS REPORTS ON EMERGENCY WATER PROJECTS RELEASED

Emergency water projects underway to shore up south-east Queensland’s future water supplies are largely on track, according to the first round of monthly progress reports.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure Anna Bligh today told State Parliament the first monthly progress reports on the 24 water initiatives listed in the Government’s emergency water regulation revealed they were generally progressing well.

“I’m pleased that all councils and agencies responsible for the projects submitted progress reports for the month of September to the Queensland Water Commission on time,” Ms Bligh said.

“These reports, and a summary of them, will be available on the Commission’s website www.qwc.qld.gov.au.

“On the whole, the first water report card is sound. However it has identified some areas where projects have slipped and improvement needs to be made.”

Ms Bligh said nine of the projects had signaled extensions to either their interim or final timeframes or identified where they expected to achieve a lower water saving or supply target.

“For example the western recycled water project has identified delays of up to one and two months on the first two sub-stages of its project, which are identified as two separate actions under the regulation, largely due to obtaining access to the land required.

“However the second stage of the project remains on track to meet the end completion date of 31 December 2008.

“While the Gold Coast desalination plant is forecast to be completed by its regulated date of 30 November 2008, the plant is not expected to be operating at full capacity – that is supplying its full 125ML of desalinated water per day – until mid January.

“Other projects identifying some challenges include:

• BribieIsland Aquifer Project

• Brisbane Aquifer Project

• Substituting potable water for recycled water for industrial and commercial customers (Brisbane City Council)

• Gold Coast City Council supplying 20ML/day of water to LoganCity

• Pressure and Leakage reduction across councils

• Home retrofit program across councils

“The Commission is working with the responsible service providers to identify how they will more closely achieve the regulated targets.

“It is also investigating other potential alternative water supply initiatives, not identified in the regulation, which could provide additional water that we have not factored into our planning. “

Ms Bligh said the State Government had taken action on a number of fronts to mitigate the risk of projects falling behind.

“On the projects the state has responsibility for, or a major stake in, the Coordinator-General has centralized the purchase of pipes across a range of projects including the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project, Southern Regional Pipeline and Gold Coast desalination plant,” she said.

“Doing this means the supply of pipes is prioritized according to the construction timeframes of each project, reducing the risk of delays.

“A central land acquisition team has also been established to ensure land required for the different projects is identified and prioritized to meet construction schedules.

“Later this week I will be introducing amendments to the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 and related legislation to give the Coordinator-General power to take over approvals processes on major projects where delays occur.”

Ms Bligh said the monthly reports detailed the status of each project, key milestones, timeframes and water targets to be achieved and the financial status of each project.

“We insisted on such regular project updates to keep a close eye on these projects to ensure we had both early warning and every opportunity to bring them back on course if they were found to be slipping,” she said.

“We set a high bar, because we are prudent planners.

“We also committed to a wide-ranging program of initiatives because we did not want to rely on one single project to secure our water supplies.

“However, it’s important that the public understands that our planning is based on the worst recorded annual inflow of water into our dams.

“If we receive even moderate rainfall above our expectations it will give us some extra time to bring projects on line.

“As we move to Level 4 restrictions tomorrow – which have a focus on business and industry users - I am conscious that the people of South-East Queensland are rising to the challenge and curbing their water use.

“Residential consumption prior to restrictions was estimated at 290 litres per person per day.

“Under Level 3 restrictions, residential consumption has now dropped to 170 litres per person per day. This is forecast to fall even further under Level 4.”

31 October 2006

Media contact: Deputy Premier’s office 3224 4379