Canberra Times, 13 August 2005 

We have enough water without new dam: Actew
By Graham Downie
Saturday, 13 August 2005

Conservative projections showed the ACT would have enough water until at least 2023 without a new dam, Actew Corporation chief executive Michael Costello said yesterday.

Speaking at a Canberra Business Council lunch, Mr Costello said even if it were found more water was needed, there would be plenty of time to build more storage.

But he was confident that transferring water to Googong Dam from the Cotter catchment and possibly from the Murrumbidgee River would prove more successful than previously estimated.

He was confident a minimum of 12gigalitres, or about 20 per cent of the ACT's annual water need, could be transferred each year from the Cotter catchment to the depleted Googong Dam. At that rate, the 124-gigalitre dam would be 85 per cent full in five years. "This idea looks better every day."

Actew has recommended building a 15km pipeline from Angle Crossing, on the Murrumbidgee River south of Canberra, to Googong Dam. He expected a decision by the Government on this recommendation by at least the end of the year. But even without that, transferring water from the Cotter catchment would more than meet the ACT's needs for several years.

And unless something extraordinary occurred, there would not be a need for the harsh restrictions of recent years.

Asked when a decision on a new water storage would have to be made, he said it might never have to be made. Even with the highest possible population growth, the transfer option, particularly if the Government approved the pipeline, would supply all the water the ACT needed until 2023.

The director of the ANU's Centre for Resources and Environmental Studies, Tony Jakeman, said the ACT was lucky Actew had done such a thorough study into future water needs. Though all models had uncertainties, there were opportunities to go beyond business as usual. Factors which could affect water use included the expansion of industry, demand management and water reuse.

Mr Costello said the ACT had no shortage of water and access to about 500 gigalitres a year. Of this, 272 gigalitres was allocated to environmental flow.

It had an enormous effect on the available water, and Actew had submitted some "pretty robust responses" to the flow guidelines proposed by Environment ACT.

He declined to indicate the detail of those submissions, but said it was fair to say Actew was not encouraging increased environmental flows.

The ACT reserved 222 gigalitres of water for its annual use. But only 65gigalitres gross were used, half being returned to the river after treatment. "In a normal year we export 839 gigalitres of water a year to NSW and receive from NSW 386."

_________________________________________________  _  _  _   _   _    _    _     _     _      _       _        _         _          _