Daniel Andrews says Victoria will need desalinated water

The Andrews government has urged Victorians to use less water as it prepares to place its largest ever desalination order.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: AAP

The Andrews government has urged Victorians to use less water as it prepares to place its largest ever order from Victoria’s desalination plant.

Dry conditions have seen Melbourne’s water storage fall to 55.7 per cent, with Geelong’s at just 41 per cent.

A bushfire burning in the Melbourne’s largest catchment area adjacent to the Thomson dam is also expected to have a significant ongoing effect on Victoria’s water supply.

Premier Daniel Andrews said that although Melbourne’s storage was above 50 per cent, the use of the desalination plant water was necessary to maintain a buffer amid dry weather.

“We’ve had very dry conditions over these last couple of years, and if you were to do the calculation on what those storages would be at today, if not for the desal orders we’ve already placed, obviously it’d be much lower than 57 per cent, so that buffer needs to be protected each year,” Mr Andrews said.

“Of course these decisions are made off the back of expert advice from the Bureau (of Meteorology) and from others about what the likely rainfall and therefore storage levels are as we look to the coming year.”

Victoria’s desalination plant at Wonthaggi, in South Gippsland, was completed with a $4bn price tag in 2012.

Despite ongoing operational costs of more than $600m a year, the first water order from the plant was not placed until 2017, when the Andrews government took 50 gigalitres, followed by 46 gigalitres last year.

Water Minister Lisa Neville said Victoria’s water storage was at its lowest since 2011.

“I’m waiting on the advice from the experts who provide me with advice at the end of March each year about what, if and how much desalination water we will need,” she said.

“Last year they had predicted in their advice to me that there was a possibility we would need 100 gigalitres this year. That was a non-binding order. This year I’m waiting on what they’re going to say.

“All I can say to Victorians is that we are experiencing incredibly dry conditions, record low inflows into our water storages and the desalination plant there is an insurance policy to ensure that we can maintain Melbourne’s water security for both our health and wellbeing and for our economic viability.”

Ms Neville urged Victorians to do what they could to limit their water usage.

“We know we’re averaging around about 165 litres per day per person. That varies from week to week, but that’s the average,” she said.

“We would like to see people back down to 155 litres.

“That would save around nine to 10 gigalitres, so make a big difference to our water security with very little impact on Victorians.”

Victorians have not faced water restrictions since permanent water use rules and a voluntary target of 155 litres per person per day were introduced in 2012.

With a capacity of 150 gigalitres, Victoria’s desalination plant is the largest in Australia.

New South Wales has recently commenced the process of restarting its plant, which was commissioned in 2010, while the South Australian government has recently announced plans to increase its order.

Perth’s two desalination plants have a combined output of up to 145 gigalitres, and have remained in operation since they were built in 2006 and 2012 respectively.

Queensland’s Gold Coast plant is operating at a low level in “hot standby” mode.

Ms Neville said the Victorian government had measures in place to ensure the desalination order would have little impact on Victorians’ water bills.

“Yesterday we had a report that came out that shows Melbourne has the lowest water bills in the country,” she said.

“We want to continue that, so we’ll be looking at a way to minimise the impact of the cost of the desal order, but I just can’t underestimate just how critical an order probably will be this year to make sure that we’re not in dangerous levels in terms of our water security going forward.”