Today I am pleased to announce that three South Australian water projects have secured funding under the $2 billion Australian Government Water Fund.
Three water conservation projects in South Australia, involving total investments of $61.87 million, will receive more than $18 million from the Australian Government Water Fund. These three projects will advance Adelaide's "big three" water issues - water security, water quality and water reuse.
The Australian Government Water Fund has now committed $293 million to 10 major water projects across Australia worth more than $860 million.
The Australian Government will provide $13.9 million over five years to a total investment of $51.3 million for a 10-year project to improve water management in the Mount Lofty Ranges.
More than $2 million will also be provided from the Australian Government to a project worth more than $4 million to expand the Virginia Pipeline system north of Adelaide.
The Australian Government will invest a further $2.35 million in a major demonstration of the value of stormwater and water re-use within metropolitan Adelaide, with the total project worth $6.5 million.
More than two-thirds of South Australia's population, including primary producers, industries, communities and metropolitan Adelaide depend on water from the catchments of the Mount Lofty region. The catchments are also important for their unique rivers, streams and wetlands.
Communities, landholders, and governments have taken stock of the increasing demands for water in the region and the limitations of current management arrangements in maintaining the quality of their water supplies.
The Mount Lofty Sustainable Water Management project has clear links to South Australia's obligations under the National Water Initiative. It will set in place a new framework for managing the region's water resources with a focus on sustainable water use, improved water quality and protection of water supply.
The expansion of the existing Virginia Pipeline will allow up to 3000 megalitres of treated wastewater that would otherwise have gone out to sea to be diverted for use by irrigators in the area. This process will also reduce demand on deteriorating local underground water supplies.
The innovative Adelaide stormwater project will allow for wetlands to be developed at three city golf courses - Grange, Royal Adelaide and Glenelg golf clubs. Stormwater will be diverted to and captured at these wetlands where it will be naturally filtered and then pumped, through bores, back into the underground water table.
The scheme will result in water savings of 1000 megalitres and reduce polluted stormwater that impacts on the Gulf St Vincent and metropolitan beaches.
These projects demonstrate the Government's commitment to meeting water challenges in cooperation with state governments, private companies, planners and managers across all jurisdictions, and deliver on our focus of improving water management as outlined in South Australia - A More Sustainable Future at the last election.