Post by Auburn Mariner on Jul 24, 2006 8:59:04 GMT 10
From today's Herald:
WATER is in such short supply on the booming Central Coast that the State Government may seize control of supplies from local councils, while a plan to place 20 mobile desalination plants on the region's beaches may send water bills soaring.
Dam levels on the coast are below 16 per cent, and the Government will meet the mayors of Gosford City and Wyong Shire today to pressure them to do more to tackle the water crisis. The councils share a joint water authority but they cannot agree on how to secure future water for the Central Coast, a population magnet where 300,000 people live.
Noisy desalination plants - each the size of a shipping container and able to produce 1 million litres of water a day - could be operating by next summer on Budgewoi, Tuggerah, Soldiers and North Lakes beaches.
Other sites being considered include Avoca - where a waterfront house sold for $5.6 million last week - Umina, Shelly Beach and Wamberal. But it would cost $4 a kilolitre to produce desalinated water, the councils say. It is not clear how much of that would be passed on in bills, but residents now pay only $1.12 a kilolitre.
Wyong's Mayor, Bob Graham, is a strong supporter of the desalination plants, but his Gosford counterpart, Laurie Maher, is not convinced, worrying they will consume too much energy - the same concern that helped kill Sydney's proposed desalination plant.
It is believed the Government has considered establishing a local water corporation similar to Sydney Water that would operate independently of the two councils.
The Minister for Water Utilities, David Campbell, told the Herald: "The people of the Central Coast deserve a clear explanation from the councils about what their proposal will do to secure water supply. I have asked the councils to supply me with a complete copy of the approved drought management plan.
"I have also sought advice on whether councils are planning to undertake investigations with Hunter Water into potential additional supply links between the two systems and the potential benefits this could deliver."
Mr Campbell wants to see the councils' assessment of the cost-effectiveness of these options compared with other drought measures, such as the mobile desalination plants.
Cr Graham said Mr Campbell's criticism was misplaced. "We have spent mega-millions of dollars thus far on the drought and there is more money to be spent in the future," Cr Graham said. "Those millions could have been spent elsewhere, on maintaining infrastructure like roads, drainage, sporting fields."
Cr Graham hopes at least four of the desalination plants will be in place before summer. They would be leased temporarily, with some estimates putting the bill at $1.3 million a year per plant.
It is not clear how they would be paid for but Cr Maher said the cost would be "significant ... I am still not keen on desalination ... I am hoping we don't need [the plants]."
The councils have not sought approval from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal to raise water charges to cover the costs. Some residents fear the plants would divert attention from cheaper and more environmentally sound options, such as tighter water restrictions and water recycling.
The secretary of the Central Coast branch of Save Our Suburbs, Bryan Ellis, said residents had lost confidence in the councils' ability to solve the crisis. "They haven't done any polling on whether people will drink recycled water," he said. "They are not looking at the real issues, not moving fast enough and not doing enough to make it easy for people to put water tanks in."
WATER is in such short supply on the booming Central Coast that the State Government may seize control of supplies from local councils, while a plan to place 20 mobile desalination plants on the region's beaches may send water bills soaring.
Dam levels on the coast are below 16 per cent, and the Government will meet the mayors of Gosford City and Wyong Shire today to pressure them to do more to tackle the water crisis. The councils share a joint water authority but they cannot agree on how to secure future water for the Central Coast, a population magnet where 300,000 people live.
Noisy desalination plants - each the size of a shipping container and able to produce 1 million litres of water a day - could be operating by next summer on Budgewoi, Tuggerah, Soldiers and North Lakes beaches.
Other sites being considered include Avoca - where a waterfront house sold for $5.6 million last week - Umina, Shelly Beach and Wamberal. But it would cost $4 a kilolitre to produce desalinated water, the councils say. It is not clear how much of that would be passed on in bills, but residents now pay only $1.12 a kilolitre.
Wyong's Mayor, Bob Graham, is a strong supporter of the desalination plants, but his Gosford counterpart, Laurie Maher, is not convinced, worrying they will consume too much energy - the same concern that helped kill Sydney's proposed desalination plant.
It is believed the Government has considered establishing a local water corporation similar to Sydney Water that would operate independently of the two councils.
The Minister for Water Utilities, David Campbell, told the Herald: "The people of the Central Coast deserve a clear explanation from the councils about what their proposal will do to secure water supply. I have asked the councils to supply me with a complete copy of the approved drought management plan.
"I have also sought advice on whether councils are planning to undertake investigations with Hunter Water into potential additional supply links between the two systems and the potential benefits this could deliver."
Mr Campbell wants to see the councils' assessment of the cost-effectiveness of these options compared with other drought measures, such as the mobile desalination plants.
Cr Graham said Mr Campbell's criticism was misplaced. "We have spent mega-millions of dollars thus far on the drought and there is more money to be spent in the future," Cr Graham said. "Those millions could have been spent elsewhere, on maintaining infrastructure like roads, drainage, sporting fields."
Cr Graham hopes at least four of the desalination plants will be in place before summer. They would be leased temporarily, with some estimates putting the bill at $1.3 million a year per plant.
It is not clear how they would be paid for but Cr Maher said the cost would be "significant ... I am still not keen on desalination ... I am hoping we don't need [the plants]."
The councils have not sought approval from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal to raise water charges to cover the costs. Some residents fear the plants would divert attention from cheaper and more environmentally sound options, such as tighter water restrictions and water recycling.
The secretary of the Central Coast branch of Save Our Suburbs, Bryan Ellis, said residents had lost confidence in the councils' ability to solve the crisis. "They haven't done any polling on whether people will drink recycled water," he said. "They are not looking at the real issues, not moving fast enough and not doing enough to make it easy for people to put water tanks in."