SA Water to pay more than $1m after releasing sludge into South Para River, Barossa Valley
SA Water’s been blasted by a judge after releasing harmful sludge into a Barossa Valley river while trying to repair a reservoir – and now has to pay up.
Taxpayers have been slugged more than $1m after SA Water was fined in court for botching a reservoir draining operation and releasing harmful sludge into a Barossa Valley river.
The Environment, Resources and Development Court earlier this month ordered SA Water to pay $60,000 after it pleaded guilty to causing serious environmental harm in a 2023 incident at South Para River, southeast of Williamstown.
A spokesman for SA Water said the organisation had already spent $661,000 on remediation efforts and would spend another $292,000 to monitor the waterway through to next year to support its continued recovery.
The incident occurred in May 2023, after SA Water began lowering the water at Warren Reservoir to a level that would allow for repair and maintenance works.
During the operation, SA Water opened a scour valve that had been leaking for several years and had not been used in 27 years because of concerns it would not be able to be closed again.
In his judgment, Senior Judge Michael Durrant said after the valve was opened, highly turbid water and sludge was released from the reservoir into the South Para River.
The valve was unable to be closed until more than a week later despite SA Water’s attempts.
Judge Durrant said the discharge caused serious environmental harm, smothering downstream aquatic habitats.
He said sediment extended at least 1.7km downstream, covering surfaces and aquatic invertebrates with a fine layer of clay.
“This was a complicated operation undertaken by an experienced and sophisticated operator aware of the potential significant risks,” Judge Durrant said.
“The defendant is also not a first-time offender. Any leniency which might be otherwise extended, is now exhausted.
“The defendant has accepted full responsibility for its actions. It reported this incident to the EPA immediately (as it was obliged) and it is remorseful.
“Given the complexity of what occurred, it is not possible to precisely identify the causes of this incident and the harm which resulted.”
The case was brought by the EPA, whose compliance director Steven Sergi said the judgment was a reminder such incidents were “unacceptable”.
An SA Water spokesman said: “As a statewide water utility, we are committed to conserving and protecting the environment, and sincerely apologise for the environmental impact of this incident.
“We take full responsibility for the incident and accept the decision by the court,” he said.
“Importantly, we have learnt from this incident and improved our processes by establishing additional steps to any water releases required to temporarily empty a reservoir, including our drawdown management plans and environmental risk mitigations.”
