Water pricing provokes amusing comments

A couple of resource economists from the ANU came out today with the not outlandish proposal that scarcity should be factored into the price of water. They assert that water should be more expensive during a drought. They also claimed that Sydney’s desal plant is a waste of money, a point which is open for debate. Yes, the dams are full now, but how high a price can you put on urban water security?

The statement of the economists are not particularly remarkable, but the response of the NSW state minister for water was worth noting. According to the SMH, and I can’t quite believe he actually said this, Nathan Rees suggested that the dramatically fluctuating price of water would make business planning impossible. Gee, I can’t think of any other business inputs that have fluctuating prices…except um EVERYTHING ELSE! I think business would survive somehow

Modernising Irrigation

According the Australian Water Association, new programs under the $5.9 billion MODERNISING IRRIGATION component of the $10 billion National Plan for Water Security have been launched: the On-Farm Efficiency Programme supplies funds up to $1.6 bn for pilot projects which save at least 25ML/water entitlement for returning permanently to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Modernising irrigation delivery systems grants of $500,000 is also available to private irrigation providers.

Georgia needs water

To put Australia’s problems into perspective, the state of Georgia in the US is anticipating its population will double in the next 30 years to 18 million people requiring hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure spend.

Brisbane leads the world on saving water

Congratulations Brisbane on being the world’s best water saving city, with residents using 123 litres of water a day. The question is will enought water be used to supply the recycled water system, with used water now supplying the Swanbank power station.

Water Services Association Report

The urban water industry peak body, the Water Services Association of Australia, has made their 2006/2007 report card available on their website. You can find it under Latest News on their website here.  They forecast that in the next five to ten years that $30 billion dollars will be invested in urban water infrastructure. They also mention that most of the cost of this investment will be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher water prices, though the Kurnell desalination plant will add less than $2 a week to the average Sydney-sider’s water bill.

Water shortage in Qld threatens electricity supply

A lack of water to cool power stations is threatening to create electricity shortages in Queensland this summer. While the Queensland Government is claiming that there is no risk of blackouts, the body that runs the national electricity market, the National Electricity Market Management Company, is not so sure. They say that if the Swanbank and Tarong North power stations go off-line due to the Wivenhoe dam (currently at 22% of capacity) running out of water, power supplies could well be disrupted.

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