I am pleased to announce funding of more than $50 million from the Australian Government Water Fund for two major water projects that will help to secure sustainable water supply for South Australia.
These projects, worth more than $116 million, deliver on Australian Government election commitments outlined in South Australia - A More Sustainable Future. They will improve water management in northern Adelaide and support the implementation of the blueprint for better water management across the country - the National Water Initiative.
The $90 million Waterproofing Northern Adelaide project will receive funding of $38 million from the Water Smart Australia Programme, $21.7 million from Local Governments, $16.4 million from the State Government and $14.1 million in private funding. The project will capture 17 gigalitres of stormwater per year, cleanse it in wetlands, and inject it into the Northern Adelaide Plains aquifer for storage and reuse.
The Waterproofing Northern Adelaide project is also expected to replace 12.1 gigalitres of drinking water used for urban irrigation and industrial purposes with treated stormwater drawn from the aquifer each year, reducing the region's demand on drinking water supplies by six per cent. Stressed groundwater areas, such as those in the Penrice, Virginia and Waterloo, will be returned to more sustainable levels through the return of five gigalitres a year to local aquifers. In addition, reuse of stormwater will reduce the ocean outfall at the Barker Inlet by 20 gigalitres a year, reducing the amount of pollutants entering our fragile ocean ecosystems by 40 tonnes per year.
This project is an excellent example of how the private sector, local, state and federal governments can work cooperatively to find solutions to address water scarcity and water management issues. I congratulate the three local councils - the City of Tea Tree Gully, the City of Salisbury, and the City of Playford - and the South Australian Government on this initiative. I also acknowledge the support and strong advocacy of the Federal Member for Makin, Trish Draper and the Federal Member for Wakefield, David Fawcett.
The Australian Government will also provide $12.97 million, matched by $12.97 million from the South Australian Government, towards a $25.94 million investment to assist the State Government implement the National Water Initiative.
This funding will help South Australia meet its commitments under the National Water Initiative and ensure that water accounting and natural resource management information systems are compatible with the national systems and allow free and open access to water data.
The National Water Initiative is the national blueprint for improving the way we manage our scarce water resources. Funding for South Australia will help to ensure that major milestones are met and national measures are accounted for.
The Australian Government has now provided funding for nine major water projects in South Australia worth more than $204 million, with over $79 million provided by the Australian Government.
To date, the Australian Government has provided more than $469 million through the Water Smart Australia Programme to a total of 35 major water projects across Australia, worth more than $1.25 billion.
Further information on these projects and the Water Smart Australia Programme is available from the National Water Commission website at http://www.nwc.gov.au/water_fund/index.cfm.