The World Today - NSW Govt criticised for flawed approach to water crisis
[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1358829.htm]
The World Today - Tuesday, 3 May , 2005 12:38:00 Reporter: Karen Barlow ELEANOR HALL: And as the national concerns about drought increase, one former scientific insider is accusing the New South Wales Government of dodging the solution to Sydney's water shortage crisis.
Dam levels for Australia's largest city are now just over 40 per cent, putting Sydney on the verge of 'level three' water restrictions. And this week, Premier Bob Carr's Cabinet will consider the merits of an expensive and power hungry desalination plant.
But a scientist who's just quit as a government advisor, says Australians should be concentrating more on water recycling.
This report from Karen Barlow.
KAREN BARLOW: Newcastle University's Dr Peter Coombes has been advising governments and government departments for around 10 years. He had a consulting agreement as part of Sydney's water recycling strategy which is due to be released in the middle of the year.
Dr Coombes has now quit his advisory role, saying the plan to recycle billion of litres of storm and waste water has been formed by a flawed process.
PETER COOMBES: I was concerned about the requirement to sign a Cabinet in confidence document that meant that none of the assumptions or the process of deciding on options would actually be available for scrutiny or independent scientific analysis.
And I thought it was very important, given Sydney's water crisis and the fact that business as usual has got us into this problem, to ensure that we have a careful analysis and independent and transparent analysis of whatever decisions were made.
KAREN BARLOW: Dr Coombes says he's also concerned that the strategy is being led toward big ticket solutions which would favour the finances of Sydney's water utility, Sydney Water.
Those large solutions include deep water draining of dams and a desalination plant, which is greenhouse gas polluting and may cost up to $2 billion.
Professor Nicholas Ashbolt from the University of New South Wales says the right solutions to saving water aren't being considered.
NICHOLAS ASHBOLT: If options have been considered, they've been dropped off the list. The current ones being pushed by state government at the moment are really not the preferred long-term solutions for Sydney, from an environmental flows and our rivers, greenhouse gas, CO2 emissions point of view, the current ideas of desalination and deep reservoirs are really trying to do a quick fix rather than a long term plan.
KAREN BARLOW: What is not being considered at the moment?
NICHOLAS ASHBOLT: What appears to be missing is really a standing back and looking at a more holistic approach to how to solve Sydney's source water and continual growth needs.
What I mean by that is we need to be properly balancing the issues of what is needed in the environment, what are people's expectations, how much energy and in other words carbon dioxide is going to be admitted, along with the technological functioning and feasibility of various options.
It seems like the two main options currently being discussed at least, are off the shelf techniques that meet a water supply but disregard environmental impacts to a large degree.
KAREN BARLOW: Professor Ashbolt says better community planning is needed. He favours decentralised systems such as the creation of clusters of homes or housing estates with rainwater tanks and grey water reuse.
Newcastle University's Dr Peter Coombes says the public needs to have a better say in the water debate.
PETER COOMBES: To save water we need to bring the community along with it. I've been involved in parliamentary inquiries in the past, and it's always put forward that the community won't do this or the community won't do that, but more often than not, the community are given a fait accompli – we are going to do this, we are going to do that, we'll raise the price and you will respond to it.
KAREN BARLOW: A spokeswoman for the state's Planning Minister, Craig Knowles, says the State Government has been pretty transparent. Plans are always published, and the Government has been keeping the public informed about the move towards a desalination plant.
She promises there will be more to reflect on when the state's recycling strategy is released mid-year.
