“Plans to use South Australia’s $2.2 billion desalination plant to help boost the health of the Murray Darling Basin has received conditional support from the Federal Coalition and Opposition. The State Government [is] waiting on a $2 million report that would determine whether the idea was viable.
David Littleproud told The Advertiser: ‘We will be happy to look at any project which stacks up and will deliver water’.
Federal Opposition water spokesman Tony Burke, told ABC radio he was also open to the idea.
‘I’m in favour of whatever we can do that ends up restoring the system to health’, he said. ‘I’d be surprised if using the desalination plant adds up … but if they want to do more work on it and see whether or not it adds up, then I’ve got no instinctive problem with it’.‘What matters is that the rivers get the water that they need and that the system doesn’t break down’.
However, SA Opposition water spokeswoman Susan Close warned the desalination plant was not the answer.
‘Given that we are in a warming climate, we will need the desalination plant for Adelaide in the future’, Dr Close said. ‘What happens when we have our next double drought?’. ‘We need to get interstate irrigators to be more water efficient – they must do it’.
Source: Adelaide Now