Queensland Democrats Senator, Andrew Bartlett today welcomed Premier Peter Beattie's decision to reject a dam at Rathdowney in favour of the less destructive site of Wyaralong, but continues to condemn all major political parties for failing to adopt full scale water recycling, which would make any new dams unnecessary.
"Purifying and fully recycling all waste water is the most economic, equitable and environmentally sustainable way to deal with Queensland's water crisis.
"Even though the Wyaralong Dam and other measures announced today will have less social cost than Rathdowney, it is still an expensive and unreliable option.
"Dams are not the saviours that the Queensland Government claims them to be. It is only because of a lack of political courage from both the State Government and the Opposition that recycling continues to be left to one side," Senator Bartlett said.
"The Government's efforts to properly plan for Queensland's future water needs are welcome, although very overdue, but relying on a 20th Century solution to a 21st Century problem is not the way to go.
"Climate modelling has shown that rainfall in South-East Queensland may well be dramatically reduced in coming years, dams are subject to high levels of evaporation due to their large surface area and harvesting from rivers will be detrimental to environmental flows.
"I am also concerned that the full cost of these proposals, as well as the Mary River dam, will be grossly understated. There is no doubt that they are a more expensive, environmentally and socially destructive and less reliable long-term option than full-scale water recycling.
"The Premier has his head in the sand if he thinks that his reckless pursuit of the easy option will do Queensland any favours. If he is serious about drought-proofing Queensland he needs to lead the way on water recycling, as well as household conservation.
"It's not too late to do the right thing," Senator Bartlett said.
|
