Locals Rally Against New Water Source as Community Faces Drought
Expert modelling indicates that water is being extracted from the Uley South Basin, which supplies three-quarters of the region’s drinking water, at unsustainable rates.
A critically important desalination plant is being proposed as the only viable solution to prevent South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula from facing a water shortage.
Despite this urgency, local residents are strongly opposing the project.
SA Water warns that the $313 million ($201 million USD) plant at Billy Lights Point near Port Lincoln must be operational before 2026 to prevent irreparable damage to the community’s diminishing bore water reserves.
Critics suggest that the agency has only recently taken action on this issue to justify pushing through the most cost-effective solution while disregarding local concerns.
According to expert assessments, water is being depleted from the Uley South Basin at rates that are not sustainable.
Over-extraction could result in seawater intruding into the basin, causing irreparable harm to the environment and the communities that depend on it, explained SA Water CEO David Ryan during a parliamentary inquiry.
“This is a crucial project that will provide a secure and sustainable drinking water supply for 30,000 residents of the peninsula,” stated Mr. Ryan.
Despite these warnings, many local residents have threatened legal action if the desalination plant proceeds.
The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation, a local native title organization, supports building a desalination plant in the area but believes that SA Water’s chosen location will harm sacred fish traps that hold significant ancestral value.
If an alternative location is not selected, the corporation’s chair, Sonja Dare, vows to pursue all available legal and political avenues to subject SA Water to independent oversight.
SA Water asserts that changing the site is no longer viable and that Billy Lights Point remains the only feasible long-term option to address the expected reduction in groundwater allocation by 2026.
The search for a suitable location for a desalination plant began in 2008, with more than 22 potential sites considered before settling on Billy Lights Point. Even after purchasing land at Sleaford West, which was later deemed unsuitable due to environmental challenges, the agency is committed to proceeding with the current selected site.
Local aquaculture businesses are also opposed to the project, expressing concerns that saline discharge from the desalination plant could harm the environment and their industry.
One such business owner, Mark Andrews, worries that the plant’s operations could impact mussel production and investment in the area.
Despite these concerns, SA Water reassures that their decisions are backed by independent marine science experts and the board’s confidence in the project’s scientific merits.
