Last month Adelaide received 115.2mm of rain- almost the double the long-term average of 67.1mm. This was our second wettest August on record.

Over the next 24 hours Adelaide is expecting more than 40ml of rain- enough stormwater to supply households for 103 days. On the news last night it was reported that this will be South Australia’s biggest “rain event” in a decade.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast that the rain will continue with above average rainfall for the rest of Spring.

While South Australia gets drenched the State Labor Party is playing out its internal leadership turmoil through the water debate. Last week Premier Rann announced a long-overdue end to water restrictions from December 1st although it appears he failed to inform his Water Minister, Paul Caica, the Chief Operating Officer of SA Water, John Ringham, the Water Commissioner (and former Labor Candidate from Victoria) Robyn McCloud or the rest of his Parliamentary team.

The Premier’s rash decision comes at a time when he is trying to cover up the appalling work safety standards at the desalination plant and follows Minister Caica’s assertion only 24 hours earlier that it would be “irresponsible” to lift the restrictions.

But today, despite the Premier’s song and dance, as our reservoirs overflow and billions of litres of water rush down our drains you could still be fined for washing your car with a hose.

At the 2010 State election the Liberal Party pledged $400 million to establish 13 metropolitan wetlands to capture about 90 gigalitres of stormwater to be treated to potable standards and recycled into our water supply. This would account for a third of Adelaide’s annual water usage.

Meanwhile, the Rann Labor Government stands idle on stormwater as an estimated 320 million litres of water flows out to sea for every 1mm of rain that falls across Adelaide.

 

I expect that the opportunity to develop stormwater harvesting will once again be ignored by the Rann Labor Government in the upcoming horror State Budget.

The South Australian Liberal Party stands for action on stormwater. We believe that while desalination can underpin Adelaide’s water supplies it should only be one part of the overall plan. Stormwater harvesting can deliver water at a lower cost by easing our reliance on a desalination plant with annual operating costs which have blown out by $25 million. And capturing and cleaning stormwater will reduce the impact of pollution from our streets on sea grasses and coastal waters.

South Australians deserve a Government that acts in the best interests of its people by lifting water restrictions as soon as it is responsible to do so rather than waiting for a time when they can score the greatest number of political points.