WATER —
DESALINATION
780. Hon DIANE EVERS to the minister representing the
Minister for Water:
I refer to the minister's
response to question on notice 1389, answered on 21 August 2018.
(1) Does the $3
to $4 per kilolitre estimated cost of water produced by a new 50-gigalitre per
annum seawater desalination plant include the cost of the additional water
transfer and storage infrastructure required to move water from the plant into
the distribution system?
(2) If no to (1), what is the
estimated cost of additional infrastructure to transfer and store water?
(3) Please provide a breakdown of
the $49.8 million spent in 2017–18 on drainage-related activities.
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
The following information has been provided by the Minister for Water.
(1) Yes.
(2) Not applicable.
(3) The $49.8 million
referred in Legislative Council question on notice 1389 represents the economic
modelled costs of service for metropolitan urban drains, which comprises
operating expenditure, depreciation expense and return on investment. The
actual spend in 2017–18 on drainage-related activities for metropolitan
and regional areas was $36.4 million. The breakdown is $20.8 million for
operating expenditure and $15.6 million for capital expenditure.