Labor's Ovens/Murray Report should cancel pipeline
“CSIRO’s Ovens/Murray Climate Change Report provides another reason for the Labor Party to plug their pipeline to Melbourne,” Sophie Mirabella, the Federal Member for Indi, said today.
“The best estimate of the report is a 13 per cent reduction in average end-of-system flows from the Ovens system into the Murray River by 2030. In addition, the State Labor Government will flush even more water to Melbourne,” Mrs Mirabella said.
This is equivalent to a 228 billion litre reduction in flow to the Murray per year, and comes in addition to a series of warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology of already stressed water supplies.
“In this reduced water environment, the correct response is to do what we can to increase the water in our region, not flush it down to Melbourne.”
“This is yet another major scientific report that highlight the very low water supplies in our area. The Labor Party must now listen to this, and reverse its plot to flush our water down to Melbourne.”
The Bureau of Meteorology recently restated that ‘the deficiencies discussed above have occurred against a backdrop of multi-year rainfall deficits and record high temperatures that have severely stressed water supplies in the east and southwest of the country.’
“In announcing the report, the Federal Water Minister, Senator Penny Wong, claims that she ‘is committed to securing water supplies as we deal with the challenges of climate change.’ If this is more than a political slogan, she needs to secure our water supplies by stopping the pipeline to Melbourne.”
“It is also concerning that the CSIRO report recognised that local towns will have more frequent mild and severe water restrictions under all but the wettest scenario, yet the Labor Party is doing nothing to secure local water supplies.”
“These severely stressed water supplies – which Labor’s own report says will be stressed more in the future – cannot sustain piping water to Melbourne. It is not surprising to realise that if inflows drop, outflows must also drop,” Mrs Mirabella said.
A copy of the report is available at www.environment.gov.au/water/mdb/yields.html
“The best estimate of the report is a 13 per cent reduction in average end-of-system flows from the Ovens system into the Murray River by 2030. In addition, the State Labor Government will flush even more water to Melbourne,” Mrs Mirabella said.
This is equivalent to a 228 billion litre reduction in flow to the Murray per year, and comes in addition to a series of warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology of already stressed water supplies.
“In this reduced water environment, the correct response is to do what we can to increase the water in our region, not flush it down to Melbourne.”
“This is yet another major scientific report that highlight the very low water supplies in our area. The Labor Party must now listen to this, and reverse its plot to flush our water down to Melbourne.”
The Bureau of Meteorology recently restated that ‘the deficiencies discussed above have occurred against a backdrop of multi-year rainfall deficits and record high temperatures that have severely stressed water supplies in the east and southwest of the country.’
“In announcing the report, the Federal Water Minister, Senator Penny Wong, claims that she ‘is committed to securing water supplies as we deal with the challenges of climate change.’ If this is more than a political slogan, she needs to secure our water supplies by stopping the pipeline to Melbourne.”
“It is also concerning that the CSIRO report recognised that local towns will have more frequent mild and severe water restrictions under all but the wettest scenario, yet the Labor Party is doing nothing to secure local water supplies.”
“These severely stressed water supplies – which Labor’s own report says will be stressed more in the future – cannot sustain piping water to Melbourne. It is not surprising to realise that if inflows drop, outflows must also drop,” Mrs Mirabella said.
A copy of the report is available at www.environment.gov.au/water/mdb/yields.html
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posted by Greg Naylor at
6:18 PM
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