The Eyre Peninsula is harsh, red and dry. Its pretty coastal towns, mining centres and agriculture depend almost entirely on a water supply that’s fast running out.
When the picturesque peninsula was settled in the mid-1800s, a seemingly plentiful groundwater supply attracted people to settle around the coast. Tod Reservoir was built near Port Lincoln to secure what was thought would be a permanent supply of drinking water.
But years of agriculture, mining and domestic use has left the intricate system of groundwater depleted, so while the Eyre Peninsula’s water is draining away, the Government has turned to another ailing water source – the River Murray – for help.
This week, Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald announced about 600 megalitres a year of River Murray water would be pumped as far as Ceduna.
Ms Maywald said the water, which would make up 20 per cent of the supply, would be taken from SA Water’s existing River Murray licences and pumped 800km to Ceduna.
Local Liberal MP Liz Penfold called the decision “insane”.
“The water quality is foul,” Ms Penfold said. “We badly need desalination and this is their solution.”
Ms Penfold said the cost of the pipeline extension to Kimba, combined with ongoing pumping costs, would outweigh the price of a desalination plant.
Earlier this year, the Government said plans for desalination in the Eyre Peninsula would be “fast-tracked”.
The Government is investigating five potential locations for a desalination plant which it now says will be needed within five years.
But in 2002, the State Government proposed a $32 million desalination plant for the Eyre Peninsula, calling it “the solution for the immediate future for the Eyre Peninsula”. Government ministers again committed to Eyre Peninsula desalination projects in 2003 and 2005.
Ms Maywald denied there had not been progress on desalination in the Eyre Peninsula since the 2002 promise.
“Several sites have been identified, a community consultation process has been conducted and the submissions are being assessed ahead of a decision on the most appropriate location,” she said.
Riverland irrigators are outraged Murray water is going to the state’s west. Orange grower Norm Hood said he was devastated that while orchards and businesses were dying in the Riverland, the Government was trying to stretch the water further.
“There’s hardly any water. The Murray is very restricted and yet the Government is trying to spread it further and further and it’s going to cause problems.”
Ceduna residents were notified by a letter and a small advertisement in the local newspaper about the change in their water supply.
Karen Skinner, who lives 10km west of Ceduna in Denial Bay, said the water quality in the region had become so bad it had bleached her clothes and her stock refused to drink it.
“The first time I washed and thought perhaps I’d done something differently, but after it happened for the third time I realised it must be the water quality,” she said.
Ms Skinner said it was concerning that while most people relied on rainwater for drinking, the mains water was used for cooking, washing and cleaning.
“We farm sheep and have polypipes which we are seeing calcifying quickly and have to replace at our own cost.
“It gets to the point where the stock won’t drink the water and you worry that this water is what we are paying for as our essential water supply.”
Ms Skinner said while she hoped the Murray water would help, it had not come soon enough.
“It’s all the water we have,” she said. “It is scary to think that some people are forced to drink it.”
A former main source of potable water for the Eyre Peninsula, the Tod Reservoir has been closed because of high salinity for seven years. It is now being considered for recreational use, but there are fears it may be dangerously contaminated.
In 2005 SA Water investigated a proposal to construct a small desalination plant on Tod Reservoir, but this was abandoned after trials found the discharge produced from desalination contained low levels of pesticides, colour and nutrients from the Tod catchment.
Ms Penfold is waiting for the result of her Freedom of Information request to find out what is in the reservoir.
She said canola crops were grown nearby and the reservoir could be suffering from run-off from super phosphate used on the crops, as well as the harsh chemicals used to spray it.
Ms Penfold claims that SA Water has told her water is diverted from the reservoir because of pathogens, although SA Water denies making the statement.
SA Water told The Independent Weekly it was unaware and not investigating claims the reservoir is contaminated.
However, the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board said: “SA Water take water samples. They know exactly what is in it.”
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