Lessons not learnt: Cities warned of water shortages, soaring bills   

August 13, 2019
Brisbane Times
   

The supply of water to the nation's major cities faces repeating the mistakes that drove up power costs, Infrastructure Australia has warned, with fears of soaring bills and a lack of supply to the fastest-growing parts of Australia.   :(

Releasing a report on the nation's infrastructure needs, the agency said it appeared the lessons of the Millennium Drought had been ignored or forgotten, just as much of the country faced growing risks from drought and wide-scale water shortages.   :(

Despite the country having the highest per-capita surface water storage capacity in the world, Infrastructure Australia said poor pricing policies, a failure to plan for surging population growth, ageing pipes and climate change were all putting at risk the supply of water to urban areas.


Infrastructure Australia has warned of soaring water costs and supply pressures ahead.

Both Sydney and Melbourne have been forced to boost supplies from their desalination plants this year due to the drought across eastern Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology this month revealed the dry hitting the Murray-Darling basin is the worst since the 1900-02 drought.


Infrastructure Australia said the drought highlighted the failure of authorities across the country to learn from previous dry periods.

"Despite undergoing an extended period of drought at the beginning of the century, known as the Millennium Drought, Australia’s urban water sector has largely failed to embed the lessons from this experience into planning and decision-making frameworks," the agency said.

"With large parts of the country drought-declared and the onset of another El-Nino phase, this presents major issues for governments and utilities to manage over coming years."


The Bureau of Meteorology explains the impacts and situations surrounding drought in Australia.

Water consumption per person dropped 16 per cent in the immediate wake of the Millennium Drought, but improvements in water efficiency "tapered off" as public interest and awareness waned.

There are also large differences in water usage and prices between cities. Sydney households use almost 50 per cent more water than those in Melbourne, while the cost of filling a swimming pool in Brisbane is 70 per cent more than in Perth.

The agency said the shift to desalination plants in recent years had been expensive and difficult to justify when there were other, cheaper ways to manage urban water supplies.

These included much greater use of water recycling and preventative maintenance, which was needed given much of the nation's water pipes had been installed between 1900 and 1975.

Upgrading water systems was likely to be expensive and could lift prices 50 per cent within a decade – the same sort of cost increases inflicted on households due to changes in the electricity sector.

"The combined impacts of climate change, population growth, rising community expectations and ageing networks mean that costs of providing services are likely to put upward pressure on household budgets over coming years," the agency said.

It also noted that risks to water were not confined to the nation's major cities. It found rural communities with moderate or small populations would also run into financial troubles as they sought to upgrade or replace ageing infrastructure.   

Has the union propaganda parrot Blackday run out of the usual rubbish and is looking for a new perch to squawk from ?

Still waiting for the cheaper electricity bills.  What now, are we going to have pay more for soaring water bills, on the liberals watch?.   :(

Hmm - after all the verbal violence poured on that desal plant down El Cidney way - now it is touted as supplying 15% of the city's water.

How things change when the chips are down...

"Infrastructure Australia said poor pricing policies, a failure to plan for surging population growth, ageing pipes and climate change were all putting at risk the supply of water to urban areas."

i.  read - 'we want to charge you more' .. not admit we failed ...
ii.  easy fix - cut down useless immigration .. we have no wish to become another Asian city flooded with people....
iii.  what do we pay you $300 a quarter for before ever turning a tap?  To top up your preferential super scheme and provide fast cars and fat office chairs for you?
iv.  'climate change' - oh, well - drag out the old bug-bear ...

Next these thieves will tell us that 'privatisation' is the way forward and will 'produce efficiency' through 'competition' ... WE NEED TO PUT A STOP TO THAT RIGHT NOW BEFORE THE BILLS ARE ARTIFICIALLY SOARED TO FILL SOME BLUDGER'S POCKETS.!!

What we need is more rain. But that will come as soon as the current weather cycle ends.

Adelaide needs a nuclear reactor driving a sea to fresh water desal plant.

whiteknight wrote on Aug 13^th, 2019 at 7:59am:

The Bureau of Meteorology explains the impacts and situations surrounding drought in Australia. Water consumption per person dropped 16 per cent in the immediate wake of the Millennium Drought, but improvements in water efficiency "tapered off" as public interest and awareness waned.

They really expected that 16% reduction to continue? ::)

Grappler Deep State Feller wrote on Aug 13^th, 2019 at 8:48am:

Hmm - after all the verbal violence poured on that desal plant down El Cidney way - now it is touted as supplying 15% of the city's water. How things change when the chips are down... "Infrastructure Australia said poor pricing policies, a failure to plan for surging population growth, ageing pipes and climate change were all putting at risk the supply of water to urban areas." i.  read - 'we want to charge you more' .. not admit we failed ... ii.  easy fix - cut down useless immigration .. we have no wish to become another Asian city flooded with people.... iii.  what do we pay you $300 a quarter for before ever turning a tap?  To top up your preferential super scheme and provide fast cars and fat office chairs for you? iv.  'climate change' - oh, well - drag out the old bug-bear ... Next these thieves will tell us that 'privatisation' is the way forward and will 'produce efficiency' through 'competition' ... WE NEED TO PUT A STOP TO THAT RIGHT NOW BEFORE THE BILLS ARE ARTIFICIALLY SOARED TO FILL SOME BLUDGER'S POCKETS.!!

The exorbitant fixed charges on many Australians' water bills are greater than the cost of the water consumption. Some households are paying 80% or more in fixed charges. This sends a very poor price signal. Why should old age pensioners be subsidising the swimming pools and other waste of water by the rich?

To encourage water economy, these fixed charges should be abolished and the price of the water consumption doubled or more. Low consumption users will pay less. Wastrels will pay more.

Bam wrote on Aug 13^th, 2019 at 11:50am:

Grappler Deep State Feller wrote on Aug 13th, 2019 at 8:48am: Hmm - after all the verbal violence poured on that desal plant down El Cidney way - now it is touted as supplying 15% of the city's water. How things change when the chips are down... "Infrastructure Australia said poor pricing policies, a failure to plan for surging population growth, ageing pipes and climate change were all putting at risk the supply of water to urban areas." i.  read - 'we want to charge you more' .. not admit we failed ... ii.  easy fix - cut down useless immigration .. we have no wish to become another Asian city flooded with people.... iii.  what do we pay you $300 a quarter for before ever turning a tap?  To top up your preferential super scheme and provide fast cars and fat office chairs for you? iv.  'climate change' - oh, well - drag out the old bug-bear ... Next these thieves will tell us that 'privatisation' is the way forward and will 'produce efficiency' through 'competition' ... WE NEED TO PUT A STOP TO THAT RIGHT NOW BEFORE THE BILLS ARE ARTIFICIALLY SOARED TO FILL SOME BLUDGER'S POCKETS.!! The exorbitant fixed charges on many Australians' water bills are greater than the cost of the water consumption. Some households are paying 80% or more in fixed charges. This sends a very poor price signal. Why should old age pensioners be subsidising the swimming pools and other waste of water by the rich? To encourage water economy, these fixed charges should be abolished and the price of the water consumption doubled or more. Low consumption users will pay less. Wastrels will pay more.

Good suggestion. Fixed charges should never be as high as 80% of a water bill.

The government is using 'user pays' charges to regressively tax the pants off the poor.

This is the future of capitalism as more and more public goods are provided on a user pays basis.

How long before Councils are privatized and sold off to foreign investors.

American foreign investors are seizing Australia's utilities, services, and public goods providers and are cleverly spiriting the money minimally taxed out of Australia.

'User Pays' implies price per unit of usage...... not give me 80% upfront and then pay for your usage.

Bracket creep - once the 80% also covered your first xx megalitres of water.....  now it's, "Whoa on there - we want our cake and we demand to eat it too.. and you're over a barrel, and if you even consider water tanks, we'll take you to court ...".. they expect their cake of 80% and then full cream on top...

Drought time - we were cruising the 2-acre spot near here with all the McMansions - it'd take a week to cut the front lawn on some..... and there was a sheila out, during drought, watering the plants on the footpath area.....

Pay by the unit... good point about the fat cat's swimming pools etc.

Laugh till you cry wrote on Aug 13^th, 2019 at 12:14pm:

Good suggestion. Fixed charges should never be as high as 80% of a water bill.

Mine are actually higher. I got my water bill today for $265. Consumption (including sewerage) is $40. Other charges $225 (85%).

So much for a "user pays" system.  >:(

Other charges is shareholder return.

Shareholders have hungry families too.

the waste of water in this country is disgraceful...

every drop that comes out of the sky should be useful to this country   

and all I see is it going into the oceans...because it costs too much to harvest,..

shame on us...and the dingbats who think a flying dragon moth will be extinct if its habitat is disturbed.. what utter rot   they survive everything mother nature throws at them.... find a way to move them...bah humbug. >:( >:( >:( >:(

Thank god for poms who only bathe once a month.

Laugh till you cry wrote on Aug 13^th, 2019 at 4:35pm:

Thank god for poms who only bathe once a month.

Now you know why bouquets of flowers are traditional at weddings.

it is all because the Greenies stop all the new dams.

Australian cities are lost causes.
Full of Anti-Australians, junkies, rednecks, Gays and over-priced everything.

Let em die of thirst and wash in used water.

Why should this country bend for the stupidity, wastefullness and over-priced Cities and its people?

juliar wrote on Aug 13^th, 2019 at 6:58pm:

it is all because the Greenies stop all the new dams.

Dams are not much use if there is no inflow.

Eventually, Australia will experience a killer drought that even once-a-month-bath poms won't survive.

Cockroaches and the lowest life-form, denizen Bobbi, will survive.

whiteknight wrote on Aug 13^th, 2019 at 8:28am:

Still waiting for the cheaper electricity bills.  What now, are we going to have pay more for soaring water bills, on the liberals watch?.   :(

My last quarterly bill was $50 less than what I paid the previous quarter. And I had been using more electricity.

Well years ago Gillard was paying Mr Flannery to say it would not rain for 40 years.