[Greens-Media] Building more dams won't create more water

[Twomey, Chris (Sen R. Siewert)]

Building more dams won't create more water

"Unless Mr Turnbull wakes up to the huge impact that climate change is
having on the security of our water resources, the National Water
Initiative will go off the rails," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

Senator Siewert slammed comments by Malcolm Turnbull criticising state
government efforts to reduce the demand for water and suggesting that
they should be investing in new infrastructure to increase supply.

"Building more dams and pipes is not a solution when the water simply
isn't there." 

Mr Turnbull's comments came the week after the interim water policy
report of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs committee highlighted
the dwindling water levels in the dams of our major cities.

Brisbane currently only has 28% of its storage capacity, Perth has 29%,
Sydney 41%, Melbourne 47%, Canberra 49%, and Adelaide 54%.

"State government efforts to reduce demand should be applauded, not
berated. If we are to tackle this problem effectively all levels of
government need to be doing more."

"The truth is that we need a combination of measures including water
recycling and demand management to deal with the impacts of climate
change and the growth of our cities on diminishing water resources," she
said.

--
The RRAT committee report stated that "...the committee is concerned
that the potential impacts of climate change may not been sufficiently
factored into water entitlements and management plans."
Malcolm Turnbull was quoted in today's Australian saying: "The truth is
that urban water is a very profitable business and that state
governments have used restrictions to reduce demand rather than
investing in new infrastructure to increase supply."
--
	           
For more information or comment call 
Chris Twomey on 0407 725 025
Email senator.siewert at aph.gov.au 
http://www.rachelsiewert.org.au

RESCUE THE SENATE



Chris Twomey
Personal Advisor
Senator Rachel Siewert
Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia
WA office: 08 9228 3277 Canberra: 02 6277 3587
mobile: 0407 725 025
www.rachelsiewert.org.au

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