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Kingston drain project to go ahead

Posted on July 8, 2009, 12:12pm and updated on July 8, 2009 at 8:04 pm

Construction of the Bald Hill drain near Kingston is scheduled to start in October, following the completion of two independent reviews of the project.

Environment and Conservation Minister Jay Weatherill said the State Government would also begin construction of floodways redirecting water from the Lower South East to the Upper South East.

Mr Weatherill said these projects would reduce salinity and restore water to wetlands in the Upper South East.

The South Australian Farmers Federation welcomed the decision.

Chief executive Carol Vincent said continuation of the project had been in some doubt because of objections from a minority of wetland complex landowners, supported by conservation groups.

“However, after deliberation Minister Weatherill has supported a reliable supply and safe disposal of water for productive crops and income from viable farmland leading to a healthy export — import balance sheet, and long-term food security,” Ms Vincent said.

“Minister Weatherill has listened carefully to the farmers affected and the SAFF.

“He is a Labor minister committed to rural South Australia and the agriculture sector, and the farmers involved and the SAFF thank him.”

Greens MLC Mark Parnell condemned the decision to go ahead with the Bald Hills Drain.

“This will be devastating news to local landholders who have campaigned for many years to protect local wetlands,” Mr Parnell said.

He called on the Minister to release the scientific reports on which the decision was based.

“Other drains have had a devastating impact on the landscape, yet it seems the government has not learnt from past mistakes,” he said.

“This deep drain is designed to strip valuable water from parched landscapes. When will we learn to work with nature and not fight against it?

“The government can’t just build this drain and walk away. Deep drains require a huge amount of ongoing maintenance at a significant cost to the community.

“Now that they have chosen to fight against nature, they must be prepared to pay for their engineered solution for the long haul.”

The State Government announced in 2006 that it would go ahead with constructing a drain at Bald Hill contingent on the introduction of fresh water flows from the Lower South East to the wetlands of the Upper South East.

“Independent scientists have advised that if no action is taken, further degradation of the watercourse is likely to occur,” Mr Weatherill said.

“The most significant risk to the watercourse is a lack of appropriate flows.

“Over 150 years this area has become a highly altered landscape and what we’re now trying to do with these new projects is replicate natural flows as best we can and remediate salinated land.”

Historically, surface water flowed from south-east to north-west towards the Coorong and drainage works in the Lower South East started about 150 years ago to open the area for agriculture and divert floodwater to the sea.

More recently drains have been constructed to remove saline groundwater, manage flood risk and divert water to key wetlands for environmental purposes.

“Unlike the old drains that went out to sea, the Bald Hill drain and the floodways will be designed and managed to return flows to wetlands,” Mr Weatherill said.

“A further objective is to return water to the Coorong.”

The scientific report made 12 recommendations.

Mr Weatherill said each of the recommendations had been carefully considered and would be addressed in the design and operation of the new system.

“This includes monitoring of the surrounding floodplains, wetlands and their ecosystems to better inform management of the networks,” he said.

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