Water Insurance !

In 2007 the level of Sydney's Warragamba dam fell to 32.5% and stringent water restrictions were applied.  It was illegal to wash a car or hose down pavement and garden watering was allowed only for a brief period each day.  Drought was a common occurrence in Australia and Sydney was an ever growing city.  It seemed quite possible that the city water supply could completely fail -  and that was a catastrophe beyond calculation.

The obvious solution was some form of desalination.   We did not lack water.   We were actually surrounded by the stuff, but it was the salty variety and the type we needed required that salt to be removed.   That was technically feasible and a contract was let to build a desalination plant that would forever extend the life of the supply from Warragamba and provide Sydney's minimum needs.   Just about the time this plant came on line, the heavens opened and we experienced record breaking rain - that restored the water level in Warragamba dam to 100 %.   Some then labelled this desalination plant a " White Elephant " !

Since then luck has been on our side and the desalination plant has remained in moth balls, awaiting the next drought - which the weather bureau assures us is inevitable.  It was decided to spread the cost of the desalination plant by offering it to the money market as a lease proposition - and this was quickly taken up by both a Canadian Pension fund and an Australian Fund Management group.   They get a guaranteed return on their investment and this costs taxpayers $ 195 million a year.

That money is similar to insuring your house against a fire.   Right now Warragamba is at 84.3% capacity and heavy rail in the past few days will raise the level even higher, but the desalination plant will remain dormant until the level falls to 70%, and then in will come on line to slow the decline and wait out the period before the next heavy rain event.

There is absolutely no doubt that this desalination plant will be needed because rain is an unpredictable occurrence - and every year thousands more people elect to make Sydney their home.  What is predictable is the number of people likely to be drawing off the Warragamba water supply twenty or thirty years from now, hence we have a static source and an ever increasing draw down.    The desalination plant is the only way to fill that gap.

The only remaining question is to determine the level at which the desalination plant will be switched on.  Many pundits claim that 70% is too high and that it should remain offline until Warragamba falls to about 40%, but it must be remembered that this plant can only supplement - not fully provide the water Sydney needs.   If global warming increases the length of droughts, it would be in our interests to insulate the Sydney water needs by topping up Warragamba early - rather than waiting and taking the risk of an exceptionally long drought.

Water is one of life's necessities - and even the thought of the taps running dry would be the ultimate disaster !