User:Peter Campbell/North South pipeline links

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These are recent links on North South pipeline (from Delicious) that I have bookmarked:

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Pipeline won't reopen

VICTORIA'S north-south pipeline will not be switched back on despite opposition calls to stop billions of litres of water being wasted. Water from Lake Eildon in Victoria's north-east is being released to prevent flooding downstream and the opposition wants the pipeline switched on so the water can flow into Melbourne's dams. [?]

Water firm high and dry as Libs plug pipe

MELBOURNE Water may have to wait months to learn if it will be compensated for its billion-dollar investment in the north-south pipeline, after premier-elect Ted Baillieu confirmed his intention to shut down the controversial project. Mr Baillieu's promise never to bring water to Melbourne through the pipe unless the city faces critical shortages means that a significant amount of water is now up for grabs, and that city water authorities have spent close to a billion dollars on a project that will deliver nothing to them. [?]

Murky water dims Coalition's pipe policy

CRUCIAL aspects of the Coalition's north-south pipe policy remain unanswered, with Ted Baillieu refusing to reveal the beneficiaries of water that he would stop from flowing to Melbourne. Mr Baillieu has confirmed that a Coalition government would not allow Melbourne to take water from the pipe unless the city urgently needed supplies for ''critical human needs'', and only if there was ''sufficient'' water in the Goulburn region where the pipe sources its flows. His plan would mean that up to 75 billion litres each year would be up for grabs. [?]

Rains raise dam levels and questions of waste

Water has long been the subject of political debate, but the twist is that this Labor government, once John Brumby took over as premier from Steve Bracks, reversed its 2006 election policies. In that campaign, Labor rubbished the plan by Ted Baillieu's Coalition to build a desalination plant. Mr Bracks offered a pithy critique: ''The energy consumption is enormous, the intrusion on the community is enormous and, of course, it's extraordinarily expensive.'' He was right, but as dams dried up and water restrictions tightened, the Brumby government decided the need for water overrode all those objections. By late next year, Victoria will be running a huge $5.7 billion desalination plan and water bills will have doubled by 2013 to pay for it. [?]

Pipeline turned off for months

As the arrival point for the north-south pipeline, this should be a vivid scene of rushing white water, just as it was in February when the pipe first brought water from the Goulburn River to Melbourne. But it's not. This new infrastructure has been switched off for months, and Melbourne could happily survive if it were never turned back on. With an election upon us, the tranquil silence at Sugarloaf might be good for fishing, but it sounds like trouble for Premier John Brumby. [?]

Opposition slams 'waste' in Brumby's water policy

THE state opposition has labelled Victoria's multibillion-dollar desalination plant and the contentious north-south pipeline as unnecessary, setting the scene for a fight on water policy in the lead-up to November's election. After going to the last election with a promise to build a desalination plant, the opposition now says the $5.7 billion plant under construction at Wonthaggi will be a costly white elephant. [?]

Pipeline shut after adding to flood level

MELBOURNE Water has suspended water deliveries from the north-south pipeline, after flows bound for the city were found to be adding to flood pressures in northern Victoria. The indefinite suspension of flows was designed to ease pressure on the swollen Goulburn River, the natural channel through which water from Lake Eildon is delivered to the pipe. The section of the Goulburn close to the pipe's pumping station has been running high in recent days, after peaking above five metres at nearby Trawool late on Monday. [?]

Water levels on the up as dams reach 38%

MELBOURNE'S water storages are having their best winter run-off since 1995, swelling above 38 per cent full and adding more than 220 billion litres to last year's historically low levels. More good news is expected in coming weeks, with big inflows expected from the winter/spring filling season. But this exceptional year for Melbourne's water-storage levels comes at an awkward time for the state government, with its $750 million water pipeline to northern Victoria completed and the $3.5 billion desalination plant expected to be ready by next year [?]

Brumby water plan damned

THE Brumby government's signature water saving projects were implemented without proper costings and without evidence that they were feasible, the Auditor-General has found. In a damning critique of the $2 billion ''food bowl'' modernisation and the $750 million north-south pipeline, the auditor found Labor had failed to demonstrate the need for the expenditure and to properly explore alternatives. The report will add to the pressure on the government over its handling of major projects in the lead-up to the November state election. [?]

Pipeline critic spied on, tailed

THE extent of the Brumby government's monitoring of protesters has been revealed for the first time, with previously secret documents showing a key north-south pipeline critic was spied on, filmed, photographed and tailed while driving. Her activities were tracked, noted and shared with the police over two years. The state's Privacy Commissioner is investigating the government's extensive monitoring of Jan Beer, 62, a Yea farmer and Plug the Pipe spokeswoman. [?]