Bligh backflip on water recycling; Traveston dam delayed ...
Excerpt from Courier Mail:
Bligh backflip on water recycling; Traveston dam delayed
25 November 2008
The State Government's controversial water recycling plan is in doubt and the Traveston Dam project is on hold for several years in a major Bligh Government backflip.
Premier Anna Bligh today gave her strongest indication yet the Government could abandon its plan to add recycled water to the state's drinking water supply.
She told State Parliament she had written to the Queenland Water Commission seeking urgent advice on whether the 40 per cent trigger for recycled water should be retained.
She said: "It is clear that people believe recycled water is a good insurance policy in the event that our dam levels plummet to low levels, but it's also clear that people are increasingly uneasy about recycled water as a constant part of our water supply system."
Ms Bligh also revealed the controversial Traveston Dam, near Gympie, will be delayed for several years, although the government remains committed to the project.
Ms Bligh said the Co-ordinator General had recently advised her that there were concerns about destruction of habitat in the proposed dam area and measures would be needed to address this or the Federal Government would be unlikely to approve the dam.
Ms Bligh indicated that to improve the habitat, which is home to the lungfish , would take several years, delaying the construction and completion of the dam.
But she did not say the Government would abandon the dam completely.
The dam is a crucial part of southeast Queensland's future water grid which was proposed by Labor to guarantee Queensland's water security into the future.
She said the another southeast Queensland dam, Wyaralong near Beaudesert, had received Federal Government approval and work would begin next year.
It is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 10:26 AM
2 Comments:
The Australian:
Traveston dam delayed by years says Anna Bligh
November 25, 2008
QUEENSLAND'S planned Traveston Crossing Dam will be delayed by several years, says Premier Anna Bligh.
The Premier has also softened her stance on the introduction of recycled water.
The controversial dam, proposed for the Mary River north of Brisbane, is widely opposed by environmentalists, pasturalists and the local indigenous community.
Ms Bligh today told state parliament that the state's co-ordinator-general had advised the site, near Gympie, would need mitigation work before construction could proceed, in order to give it the best chance of federal environmental approval.
The project would be delayed by "several years", she said.
Given the delay, and the progress of other drought-proofing projects, Ms Bligh would seek urgent advice from the Queensland Water Commission on whether the 40 per cent trigger, identified for the introduction of recycled water to the southeast corner's water supply, was "still sound".
"It is clear that people believe that recycled water is a good insurance policy in the event that our dams plummet to low levels," she said.
"But it is equally clear that people are uneasy about recycled water as a constant part of our water system."
Unrest about recycled water has escalated in recent weeks, and Ms Bligh said she heard those concerns against the possibility the dam could be delayed.
Ms Bligh said she met with the coordinator-general on November 13, and learned that years of farming at Traveston Crossing had degraded the land so much that mitigation work would be needed prior to construction.
She did not say how long the delay would be, but said she was told it could take two years for plant seedlings to be properly established, and five years until land was suitable for fauna to move in.
Meanwhile, the Wyaralong Dam proposed for the Logan River catchment south of Brisbane, has been approved.
Construction will begin early next year, with the dam to be completed by the end of 2011.
12:38 PM, November 25, 2008
ABC News:
Environmental concerns stall Traveston dam project
25 November 2008
The Queensland Government says construction of the Traveston Crossing dam near Gympie in the state's south-east will be delayed by several years due to environmental concerns.
Premier Anna Bligh says the coordinator-general has told the State Government the proposed dam is unlikely to receive Federal Government approval, unless there is environmental rehabilitiation of the site.
Ms Bligh says that could take several years.
She says given the delay, she will ask for urgent advice on plans to introduce recycled water into south-east Queensland's drinking supplies.
"In light of all these changes and confirmation yesterday of a delay in Traveston Crossing dam, I will today ask the Queensland Water Commission to provide urgent advice on whether the 40 per cent trigger that they identified in January 2007 for the introduction of purified recycled water is still sound," she said.
The Queensland Opposition says the State Government has backed down on the dam.
Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg questioned Ms Bligh in Parliament on whether she will scrap plans to introduce recycled water in the south-east.
"Will you confirm today that you now support the LNP's position that recycled sewage and medical waste in our drinking water should be the armageddon solution only and that you got it wrong when it comes to what the people of south-east Queensland will really put up with," he said.
'Shocked'
Anti-dam campaigners says they are shocked by the decision.
The president of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group, Kevin Ingersole, says he cannot believe the Premier has delayed the controversial project.
"What's a shock is that Colin Jenson - the Queensland Government coordinator-general had the guts to tell the Premier this will never fly," he said.
"That shocked me because I thought we'd have to go the whole nine yards to Canberra for this to get knocked on the head."
The chairman of the Greater Mary Association, Darryl Stewart, says the delay is not enough and the dam should be scrapped altogether.
"Any dam on the Mary River or its tributaries would just cut that lifeblood off and there are huge implications for environmental, economic and social implications right the way downstream from the dam out into Hervey Bay," he said.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed the dam's delay but spokeswoman Kate Noble says she still wants the project scrapped.
"The Traveston issue has been very unpopular and commonsense has prevailed," she said.
"The environmental impacts of this dam are clear now and they'll be clear in several years.
"The Queensland Government should scrap the proposal right now and invest in the alternatives."
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has approved construction of the Wyaralong dam, near Beaudesert in south-east Queensland.
12:47 PM, November 25, 2008
Post a Comment
<< Home