Federal assessment of NPI stage two extended til 12 Feb

[SteveB]

Here are the latest details on the federal ssessment of the NPI stage 2. On Boxing Day the assessment period was extended till 12 February 2010.
By coincidence - that is the same date that submissions close on the draft SEQ water strategy.

http://environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/epbc/epbc_ap.pl?name=referral_detail&proposal_id=3686
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"Bad luck ... you dickheads. Suffer in your jocks". (from: the Castle)

[Glenda Pickersgill]

Responding to the Imminent decision by Minister Garrett regarding the
Northern Pipeline Interconnector Stage 2

What is the Northern Pipeline Interconnector (NPI) Stage 2?
It is a pipeline that will take water from the Mary Catchment via Lake Macdonald. Previously, the Qld Department of Infrastructure website stated that “The NPI will be designed to accommodate additional water from Traveston Crossing Dam, should it be approved, and with a reverse flow capacity to the Sunshine Coast”. Consequently, the pipe has been designed with the extra capacity needed to handle water from Traveston.

Lake MacDonald collects water from the Mary Catchment in two ways:

a.Lake Macdonald is on Six Mile Creek a significant tributary of the Mary (and is currently used to supply water to Noosa)
b.There is a pump station on the Mary River near Kandanga/Tuckechoi that currently pumps water from the MAIN TRUNK of the Mary to Lake MacDonald

The first stage (NPI stage 1 from Morayfield to Landers Shute) is already operational. The previous Federal Government decided that Stage 1 did not need to be assessed under the EPBC Act. Therefore NPI Stage 1 is already able to take water from Baroon Pocket dam (Maleny’s water supply) and use it in the SEQ Water Grid.

Stage 2 of the NPI will involve:
a.The construction of approximately 65 km of new underground pipelines between Noosa and/or Cooroy and the termination point for Stage 1, near Eudlo (at Landers Shute Water Treatment Plant). Water for Stage 2 will be supplied from the Noosa and Image Flat WTP. The Noosa WTP treats water sourced from Lake Macdonald and the Mary River, whereas the Image Flat WTP is supplied from the Wappa Dam and the Poona/Cooloolabin system.

b.50km of this pipe would be 1.2m in diameter, and therefore the pipe has the capacity to pump much more than the current allocation allows.

c.According to the Southern Regional Water Pipeline newsletters, water available for Stage 2 will be mainly from existing allocations, plus some new entitlements authorised under the Water Resource (Mary Basin) Plan 2006.

d.Combined, the NPI Stage 1 and Stage 2 will have the capacity to access 24, 000 ML/year of water from the Mary River to the South East Queensland Water Grid. This is based on existing urban allocations which have never been fully utilised.

The entire 100km Northen Pipeline Interconnector is a “drought measure” listed of the Water Amendment Regulation (No.6) 2006.
Points you could make in your email to the Minister:
If the NPI Stage 2 were to go ahead it would allow an unprecendented level of extraction from the Mary River. The impact of this on the endangered and vulnerable species of the Mary River has not been assessed.

If the large pipe sizes are retained, the pipe will have the capacity to
pump more water than allocations allow. This is unecessary and of concern to people interested in the health of the Mary River downstream of this point.

The NPI makes transfer of water from one catchment for use in another possible (also called interbasin transfer). This is not sustainable practice
The people of the Mary River catchment have not been consulted about transfer of water from our catchment to Brisbane. This is not democratic.
Economic reports commissioned for the Environmental Impact Statement of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam identified that water availability/security is a critical factor in determining economic vitality of key sectors in the Mary River Catchment. Despite this, there is no compensation being offerred to water dependent industries to make up for the loss of water to the catchment.

Brisbane does not need this water. Currently, Brisbane’s water supplies arevmore than adequate, and based on recent statements by Qld Government representatives will continue to be adequate for at least another decade. When planning to address water needs beyond the next decade, there are numerous alternatives for Brisbane’s water security that are more sustainable and don’t deprive the communities and environment of the Mary River of much needed water. Eg bringing forward the safety upgrade of Wivenhoe dam, improving industrial and commercial water efficiency, etc (see all alternatives we have proposed for Traveston)

It appears that the Queensland Government has already awarded tenders for the construction of this project to engineering firms. The Macdonald Dowell online news update of Sep 5 2009 (http://www.macdow.com.au/news/northern-pipeline-interconnector-stage-2-queensland) states “The Company is pleased to advise the McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd as part of the Northern Network Alliance (NNA), have been awarded the Northern Interconnector Stage 2 Project (NPI) by LinkWater, a Queensland Government owned company“. We are very concerned that the Queensland Government has not waited for approval of the pipeline before letting tenders. These action weaken the EPBC Act and suggest that the Qld Government is operating outside of the law.

Who to send your submission to - Garrett and Wong (who Garrett will probably be consulting on the proposed decision)
(NB email/phone/fax is the best method at this point due to the urgency of this matter)

The Honourable Peter Garrett MP
Tel: (02) 6277 2037,
Fax: (02) 6277 8402
Peter.Garrett.MP@aph.gov.au

Senator Penny Wong
Phone: (02) 6277 7920
Fax: (02) 6273 7330 Senator.Wong@aph.gov.au


The EIS and Supplementary EIS for the NPI Stage 2 are available at the following site:
http://projects.linkwater.com.au/aboutus/ourprojects/npi2