New data has revealed fresh water flows in the Shoalhaven River have fallen to levels not seen since the Millennium drought, with 2019 likely to see less than one fifth of average flows, as water transfers to Sydney have dramatically increased.
The new data, obtained through Budget Estimates, follows an announcement by state and federal Coalition Ministers of a $1 billion dam building package to respond to the current statewide drought crisis. In September, NSW Water Minister, Melinda Pavey, suspended water sharing rules to allow additional transfers from the Shoalhaven River to Sydney, breaking the existing metropolitan water plan and despite Sydney only being on level 1 water restrictions at the time.
Independent NSW MP Justin Field said, “Dams don’t create water and are not the solution the Nationals make them out to be. This drought has shown up the failures of water management by the Coalition Government and in particular the failure to invest in water efficiency and recycling to help drought proof towns and ensure there is water for the environment. The Shoalhaven is paying the price for a failure to manage Sydney’s water use and to avoid the political pain of tighter water restrictions.
The data revealed that water transfers to Sydney since they began in 2018 was 44 billion litres, the highest rate of transfers since 2008. Water flowing into the Shoalhaven River from spill-overs or releases has fallen to just 68 billion litres so far in 2019, on track to be around 90 billion litres this year, about 20% of the annual average of 455 billion litres (see tables below).
Mr Field has also commented on media reporting that Nationals Leader John Barilaro and Water Minister Melinda Pavey will put a proposal to Cabinet this week to give water infrastructure approval powers to Water NSW and give the Water Minister the ability to direct the planning department to fastrack assessments and cut requirements for environmental studies. NSW doesn’t need fast-tracked dams, it needs a genuine plan to manage our valuable water resources within natural limits of our unpredictable environment,” Mr Field said.
“The disasters in water management in NSW show the Nationals shouldn’t even have the Water portfolio. Giving the Nationals dam planning powers is like giving a bank robber keys to the bank. While the Tallowa Dam was built to provide water security for Sydney, the consequences of these large transfers on the health of the Shoalhaven River and downstream users including the Oyster Industry, need to be adequately assessed, not left in the hands of the National Party.
“While Sydney remains only on level 1 water restrictions and the Government plays around with their misguided dam plan, the Shoalhaven River is being run dry with the lowest allocated flows over the past 10 years. I’m calling for a review of the water sharing arrangements for the Shoalhaven to ensure while we continue to provide back-up water for Sydney, the health of the river and the needs of the Shoalhaven community and down-stream industries are protected.
Table 1: Water transfers from the Shoalhaven River to Sydney
|
Date |
Shoalhaven Transfer (ML) |
|
2000 |
1,726 |
|
2001 |
813 |
|
2002 |
1,078 |
|
2003 |
106,293 |
|
2004 |
81,521 |
|
2005 |
182,743 |
|
2006 |
134,517 |
|
2007 |
185,329 |
|
2008 |
141,055 |
|
2009 |
10,628 |
|
2010 |
12,193 |
|
2011 |
22,680 |
|
2012 |
1,231 |
|
2013 |
1,167 |
|
2014 |
919 |
|
2015 |
1,212 |
|
2016 |
478 |
|
2017 |
0 |
|
2018 |
23,444 |
|
2019 YTD |
20,718 |
Table 2: Water released from Tallowa Dam
|
Date |
Total of Release and Spill (ML) |
|
2000 |
239,932 |
|
2001 |
503,171 |
|
2002 |
308,382 |
|
2003 |
233,103 |
|
2004 |
46,412 |
|
2005 |
192,195 |
|
2006 |
56,707 |
|
2007 |
593,923 |
|
2008 |
129,671 |
|
2009 |
68,715 |
|
2010 |
480,243 |
|
2011 |
658,895 |
|
2012 |
1,443,599 |
|
2013 |
939,593 |
|
2014 |
707,933 |
|
2015 |
994,072 |
|
2016 |
530,503 |
|
2017 |
403,651 |
|
2018 |
118,707 |
|
2019 YTD |
68,143 |
