ACTEW Corporation today welcomed the findings of the ICRC’s final report into the cost of Canberra’s Enlarged Cotter Dam.
ACTEW Managing Director Mark Sullivan said he was pleased the ICRC’s report confirmed the final price of $363 million represents an efficient cost for building the dam and found that the project was based on robust design, engineering, construction and costing processes.
Mr Sullivan said ACTEW welcomed the Commission’s acknowledgment that ACTEW’s decision to pursue a portfolio of projects was intended to provide ‘insurance for the ACT community against future climate change impacts’ and found that ‘the decision could be considered to have been prudent and may prove to be more so as climate change impacts are revealed over time’.
"We have never expected that one project on its own would give us the water security we need. That's why ACTEW recommended a suite of projects instead of a single solution,” said Mr Sullivan.
Mr Sullivan said, “Faced with the uncertainty of climate change and the worst drought on record, ACTEW is comfortable with having taken a carefully considered, cautious approach”.
“Our new water security measures will work together and with existing infrastructure; allowing us to take full advantage of our most productive catchment, Cotter, when we do receive rain and giving us the capacity to store water for times of scarcity”.
“We are confident the dam will go down in history as a prudent decision from the ACTEW Board – as have the original Cotter Dam and Googong Dam, both of which were under the same scrutiny while being built”, said Mr Sullivan.
Mr Sullivan said ACTEW believes it is essential communities have confidence in investments as significant as the Enlarged Cotter Dam and thanked the ICRC for conducting such a thorough investigation.
“We want the community to be as confident as we are that this is the right project at the right time – and at a cost that guarantees both value and quality. That’s why we welcome this report and welcome all debate about our region’s water security,” he said.
Mr Sullivan said that while there were some technical differences of opinion between ACTEW and the ICRC on the methodology of calculating economic benefits of major infrastructure projects, ACTEW will continue to work closely with the regulator to resolve this outstanding issue. ‘’This will make our decision-making tools even stronger and help us to continue to make difficult decisions about our water supply assets in the future’’, he said.
ACTEW started construction of the Enlarged Cotter Dam in November last year and the project is progressing on schedule for a December 2011 completion. The Enlarged Cotter Dam forms part of a wider water security strategy which also includes the Murrumbidgee to Googong Water Transfer and the Tantangara Transfer projects.
For information on water security for the ACT region visit
click here.
STATEMENT ENDS