Inter-Basin Water Transfer - Assetsassets.cambridge.org/97811074/04212/frontmatter/... · Inter-Basin Water Transfer Case Studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and

Inter-Basin Water TransferCase Studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and India

Since the Second World War increasing demands for irrigation, domestic and industrial

water have generated a massive growth world-wide in the number of large water

infrastructure projects. Many of these projects involved the transfer of water from basins

considered to have surplus water to those where the demand for water has exceeded or is

expected to exceed supplies. While these inter-basin water transfers have substantially

contributed to the overall development of numerous countries, they also have caused

environmental, social, cultural and economic problems.

Using the experience of inter-basin water transfer projects in Australia, United States,

Canada, China and India this book examines case studies within the diverse

geographical, climatic, economic, and policy regimes operating in these countries. The

first part of the book is an overview of world challenges with respect to water resources

and discusses the key issues in inter-basin water transfers. The second part examines the

water resources of Australia, the driest inhabited continent. It describes the benefits and

impacts of a number of inter-basin transfer projects developed or proposed in Australia.

The third part explores inter-basin water transfer projects in the United States, Canada,

China and India, examining their benefits and impacts within these nations’ contrasting

economies and governance systems. The fourth part consists of numerous appendices.

The book concludes by highlighting the successes and failures of the case examined, and

provides pointers for the future of inter-basin water transfer in meeting urgent and

growing water demands. This comprehensive and well-illustrated text will be of great

interest to professionals and researchers in the fields of hydrology, water resources,

and to those engaged in environmental science, policy and regulation.

FEREIDOUN GHASSEMI is Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Resource and Environmental

Studies, The Australian National University. He is a Fellow of the Modelling and

Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand and was recipient of the G. Burton

Medal from the Hydrological Society of Canberra in 1995. Dr Ghassemi has more than

35 years of experience in various aspects of water resource research in Australia, France,

Iran and Vietnam.

IAN WHITE is Professor of Water Resources at the Centre for Resource and

Environmental Studies, The Australian National University. He is a Fellow of the

American Geophysical Union and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences

and Engineering. Professor White was awarded a Centenary Medal for service to

Australian society in environmental science and technology in 2003 and has twice (in

1994 and 1997) received the G. Burton Publication Medal from the Hydrological Society

of Canberra. He has worked in water and land resources in Australia, the United States,

Pacific small island nations, Vietnam, China and France.

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I NTERNAT IONAL HYDROLOGY SER I E S

The International Hydrological Programme (IHP) was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1975 as the successor to the International Hydrological Decade. The

long-term goal of the IHP is to advance our understanding of processes occurring in the water cycle and to

integrate this knowledge into water resources management. The IHP is the only UN science and educational

programme in the field of water resources, and one of its outputs has been a steady stream of technical and

information documents aimed at water specialists and decision-makers.

The International Hydrology Series has been developed by the IHP in collaboration with Cambridge University

Press as a major collection of research monographs, synthesis volumes and graduate texts on the subject of water.

Authoritative and international in scope, the various books within the series all contribute to the aims of the IHP in

improving scientific and technical knowledge of fresh-water processes, in providing research know-how and in

stimulating the responsible management of water resources.

ED ITOR IAL ADV I SORY BOARD

Secretary to the Advisory Board

Dr Michael Bonell Division of Water Science, UNESCO, I rue Miollis, Paris 75732, France

Members of the Advisory Board

Professor B. P. F. Braga Jr Centro Technologica de Hindaulica, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Professor G. Dagan Faculty of Engineering. Tel Aviv University, Israel

Dr J. Khouri Water Resources Division, Arab Centre for Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands, Damascus, Syria

Dr G. Leavesley US Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Denver Federal Center, Colorado, USA

Dr E. Morris Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK

Professor L. Oyebande Department of Geography and Planning, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Professor S. Sorooshian Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine,

California, USA

Professor K. Takeuchi Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yamanashi University, Japan

Professor D.E. Walling Department of Geography, University of Exeter, UK

Professor I. White Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, Canberra,

Australia

T ITLES IN PR INT IN THE SER IE S

M. Bonnell, M.M. Hufschmidt and J. S. Gladwell Hydrology and Water Management in the Humid Tropics:

Hydrological Research Issues and Strategies for Water Management

Z.W. Kundzewicz New Uncertainty Concepts in Hydrology

R.A. Feddes Space and Time Scale Variability and Interdependencies in the Various Hydrological Processes

J. Gibbert, J. Mathieu and F. Fournier Groundwater and Surface Water Ecotones: Biological and Hydrological

Interactions and Management Options

G. Dagan and S. Neuman Subsurface Flow and Transport: A Stochastic Approach

J. C. van Dam Impacts of Climate Change and Climate Variability on Hydrological Regimes

J. J. Bogardi and Z.W. Kundzewicz Risk, Reliability, Uncertainty and Robustness of Water Resources Systems

G. Kaser and H. Osmaston Tropical Glaciers

I. A. Shiklomanov and John C. Rodda World Water Resources at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century

A. S. Issar Climate Changes during the Holocene and their Impact on Hydrological Systems

M. Bonnell and L.A. Bruijnzeel Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics: Past, Present and Future

Hydrological Research for Integrated Land and Water Management

F. Ghassemi and I. White Inter-Basin Water Transfer: Case Studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China

and India






INTER-BASIN WATER TRANSFER:

Case Studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and India

By:

Fereidoun Ghassemi and Ian White






cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City

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Ghassemi, F. (Fereidoun), 1940- Inter-basin water transfer : case studies from Australia, United States, Canada,China, and India / by Fereidoun Ghassemi and Ian White. p. cm. – (International hydrology series) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-521-86969-0 (hardback) isbn-10: 0-521-86969-2 (hardback)1. Water transfer–Case studies. 2. Water-supply–Management–Case studies. 3. Waterconsumption–Forecasting–Case studies. I. White, Ian, 1943- II. Title. III. Series.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of Benedict (Ben) Chifley, the Post-War visionary Labor Prime Minister

of Australia (July 1945 to December 1949) and founder of the Australian National University 60 years ago on

the 1st August 1946 who understood the importance of water in Australia and had the courage and tenacity to act

on that understanding.






NoteThroughout this book:

The Australian dollar� is represented by $

The US dollar is represented by US$, and

The Canadian dollar is represented by CAN$

� In February 1966 the Australian currency system was

converted from the British system of pounds to

Australian dollars, which were worth

half a pound.






Disclaimer

The authors, publisher and the Centre for Resource and

Environmental Studies, the Australian National University,

would like to advise that the information contained in this

publication is based on scientific publications and research

results. As such, this information may be incomplete or not

suitable to be used in any specific situation. No reliance or

actions should be made on that information without seeking

prior expert advice.

The authors, publisher and the Centre for Resource and

Environmental Studies, the Australian National University

exclude all liability to any individual person, organisation,

government department, research institution, and others for

any consequences including but not limited to all losses,

damages, costs, expenses and any other compensation, arising

directly or indirectly from using this publication (in part or as

a whole) and any information or material contained in it.











Contents

Foreword page xv

Overview and Scope xix

Acknowledgements xxiii

List of Abbreviations xxv

Part I The Challenges 1

1 World population and pressures on land, water

and food resources 3

1.1 Population 3

1.2 Dryland areas 4

1.3 Extent of human-induced land

degradation 4

1.4 Water resources 8

1.5 Agricultural land use 13

1.6 Food and fibre production 15

1.7 Feeding the world population 16

1.8 World water and food to 2025 17

1.9 Challenge Program on water and food 18

1.10 Conclusions 19

References 20

2 Issues in inter-basin water transfer 22

2.1 Introduction 22

2.2 Knowledge requirements and inter-basin

water transfer 23

2.3 Planning and public participation 27

2.4 Assessment of the impacts 28

2.5 Environmental flow requirements

of rivers 31

2.6 Social and cultural issues 35

2.7 Economic appraisal 37

2.8 Water rights 38

2.9 Conflicts and their resolution 40

2.10 Integrated assessment and modelling 43

2.11 Conclusions 45

References 45

Part II Inter-basin Water Transfer in Australia 49

3 Land and water resources of Australia 51

3.1 Geography 51

3.2 Population 51

3.3 Climate 54

3.4 Climate change 56

3.5 Drought 59

3.6 Flood 60

3.7 Soil resources 61

3.8 Agricultural land use 64


3.10 Environmental degradation 70

3.11 Management reforms and programmes 74

3.12 Estimates of future water requirements 79

3.13 National water initiative 84

3.14 Potential role of inter-basin

water transfer 85

3.15 Conclusions 87

References 87

4 The Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme 91

4.1 Location 91

4.2 Hydrology 91

4.3 Decline in precipitation 91

4.4 Historical background 92

4.5 Snowy Mountains Act 95

4.6 Cost of the scheme 96

4.7 Technical features of the scheme 96

4.8 Water releases 97

4.9 Electricity production 97

4.10 Workforce 99

4.11 Environmental impacts of the scheme 101

4.12 Corporatisation of the scheme 101

4.13 The Snowy water inquiry 102

4.14 The environmental flow agreement 104

4.15 Precipitation enhancement project 104

ix






4.16 Conclusions 105

References 105

5 Inter-basin water transfer from coastal basins

of New South Wales 107

5.1 Introduction 107

5.2 Environmental problems of the North

Coast river basins 107

5.3 Proposed diversion schemes 110

5.4 The scoping study 122

5.5 Clearance scheme and water supply

of Adelaide 122

5.6 Conclusions 123

References 123

6 The Bradfield and Reid schemes in Queensland 125

Section A: The Bradfield scheme 125


6.2 Water availability 125

6.3 Outline of the Bradfield scheme 125

6.4 Costs and benefits of the scheme 126

6.5 The 1947 review of the scheme 126

6.6 The expanded Bradfield scheme 129

6.7 The 1982 review of the scheme 131

6.8 Bradfield scheme and water supply of

Adelaide 134

Section B: The Reid scheme 135


6.10 Description of the scheme 135

6.11 Cost of the scheme 137

6.12 Expected benefits of the scheme 137


References 137

7 Three schemes for flooding Lake Eyre 139


7.2 Characteristics of the Lake Eyre Basin 139

7.3 Port Augusta�Lake Eyre canal scheme 144

7.4 The Great Boomerang Scheme 147

7.5 Flooding Lake Eyre with waters of

the Great Artesian Basin 149

7.6 Conclusions 149

References 150

8 The Goldfields pipeline scheme of

Western Australia 151


8.2 Water shortage 151

8.3 Pipeline proposals 152

8.4 Conclusions 162

References 164

9 Supplying Perth, Western Australia with water:

the Kimberley pipeline scheme 165


9.2 Water conservation strategy 165

9.3 Long-term water supply options

for Perth 165

9.4 Perth’s water supply options 167

9.5 Inter-basin water transfer from

Kimberley 169

9.6 Bulk water transport by ship from

Kimberley to Perth 177

9.7 Seawater desalination for Perth’s

water supply 177

9.8 Conclusions 178

References 179

10 Other schemes in Australia 180


Section A: River Murray pipelines in

South Australia 180


10.3 Morgan�Whyalla pipelines 181

10.4 Mannum�Adelaide pipeline 183

10.5 Swan Reach�Paskeville pipeline 183

10.6 Tailem Bend�Keith pipeline 183

10.7 Murray Bridge�Onkaparinga pipeline 183

Section B: Mareeba�Dimbulah irrigation scheme,

Queensland 184


10.9 History of the scheme 184

10.10 Agricultural development 186

10.11 Water allocation and water use 186

10.12 Power generation and town water supply 186

10.13 Water quality issues of the Tinaroo

Falls Lake 187

10.14 Barron water resources plan 187

10.15 Possibilities for future expansion 188

10.16 Impacts of water resources development 188

Section C: Domestic and industrial water

supply in North Queensland 188

10.17 Water supply from Eungella Dam 188

10.18 Pipelines for water supply of Townsville

and Thuringowa 189

x CONTENTS






10.19 Pipeline to Bowen area 189

Section D: Water supply to the Broken Hill

mines and township, New South Wales 189


10.21 Water supply 191


References 198

Part III Inter-basin Water Transfer in Other

Selected Countries 199

11 Inter-basin water transfer in the United States

of America 201

Section A: Overview of geography, population,

land and water 201

11.1 Geography 201

11.2 Population 202

11.3 Precipitation and climate 202

11.4 Land use 203


11.6 Flood 207

11.7 Drought 208

11.8 Climate change impacts 209

11.9 Water transfer projects in the

United States 209

11.10 Ambitious plans for water transfer 211

11.11 Federal water plan for the west

(water 2025) 212

Section B: Inter-basin water transfer in California 215

11.12 Geography and population 215

11.13 Water supply and demand 215

11.14 Water transfer projects 217

11.15 Major management programs and

strategies 229

Section C: Inter-basin water transfer from the

Colorado River 240

11.16 Colorado River Basin 240

11.17 Water transfer projects 243


References 258

12 Inter-basin water transfer in Canada 261


land and water 261

12.1 Geography 261

12.2 Population 261

12.3 Economy 262

12.4 Climate and precipitation 262

12.5 Land cover and use 263


12.7 Flood 269

12.8 Drought 270

12.9 Hydro-power generation 270


12.11 Management of water resources 272

Section B: Inter-basin water transfer projects 275


12.13 Examples of water transfer projects 276

12.14 Great Lakes Basin diversions 281

12.15 Impacts of the diversion projects 281

12.16 Learning from Canadian experience 284

12.17 Large-scale water export proposals 284

12.18 Water export policy 290


References 293

13 Inter-basin water transfer in China 295


land and water 295

13.1 Geography 295

13.2 Population 296

13.3 Economy 296


13.5 Land cover and use 297

13.6 Irrigation 298


13.8 Flood 304

13.9 Drought 305


13.11 Sustainable water resources development 305

13.12 Water conservation 306

Section B: Inter-basin water transfer projects 307


13.14 South to North Water Transfer Project 307

13.15 Action plan for the North China Plain 314


References 316

14 India: The National River-Linking Project 319


land and water 319

14.1 Geography 319

14.2 Population 319

CONTENTS xi






14.3 Economy 319


14.5 Irrigation 321


14.7 Flood 326

14.8 Drought 326


14.10 Impacts of dam building 327

14.11 National water policy 329

14.12 Inter-state water disputes 330

Section B: The National River-Linking Project 330


14.14 Existing projects 330

14.15 River-linking proposals of the 1970s 331

14.16 The National River-Linking Project 331


References 344

15 Inter-basin water transfer, successes, failures

and the future 345


15.2 Benefits of inter-basin water transfer

projects 346

15.3 Impacts of inter-basin water transfer

projects 350

15.4 Mega-scale water transfer proposals 353

15.5 Necessary knowledge for inter-basin

water transfer 353

15.6 Inter-basin water transfer, water

conservation and new sources of supply 354

15.7 Inter-basin water transfer and cross

jurisdictional agreements 355

15.8 Recommendations of the World

Commission on Dams 356

15.9 Concluding comments 356

Part IV Appendices 359

Appendix A Some of the Australian pioneers of

inter-basin water transfer 361

A.1 Bradfield, John Job Crew (1867�1943) 361

A.2 Chifley, Joseph Benedict ‘‘Ben’’

(1885�1951) 362

A.3 Forrest, Sir John (1847�1918) 364

A.4 Hudson, Sir William (1896�1978) 366

A.5 Idriess, Ion Llewellyn (1889�1979) 367

A.6 Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon

(1894�1978) 368

A.7 O’Connor, Charles Yelverton

(1843�1902) 369

Appendix B Construction timetable of the

Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme 371

Appendix C Details of diversion schemes from

the Clarence River Basin 374

C.2 Details of diversion schemes from the

Macleay River Basin 376

Appendix D Chronological table of the most important

events in the Goldfields Pipeline Scheme,

Western Australia 377

Appendix E Flooding of the Sahara depressions 379

E.1 Introduction 379

E.2 Roudaire’s expeditions 379

E.3 Commission of inquiry 380

E.4 Continuation of the inland sea affair

(1882�1936) 381

E.5 Developments from 1957 to 1968 381

E.6 The joint Algeria and Tunisia project

(1983�85) 382

References 383

Appendix F The Ord River Irrigation Scheme 384

F.1 Introduction 384

F.2 Hydrology and water quality of the

Ord River 386

F.3 Economic evaluation of the scheme 386

F.4 Recent gross values of agricultural

production 388

F.5 Hydro-power generation 388

F.6 Stage 2 of the scheme 388

References 392

Appendix G The West Kimberley Irrigation Scheme 393

G.1 Introduction 393

G.2 Groundwater allocation and

stakeholders concerns 393

G.3 Cultural values of groundwater 395

G.4 Cotton research 395

G.5 Benefits of the WAI proposal 395

G.6 Progress of the feasibility study 396

G.7 Failure of the proposal 396

References 396

xii CONTENTS






Appendix H Some other water transfer schemes

in Australia 397

H.1 Introduction 397

H.2 Shoalhaven Diversion Scheme 397

H.3 Thomson Diversion Scheme 403

H.4 Hydro-power generation in Tasmania 405

References 412

Appendix I Selected technical features of the Central

Valley Project in California 413

Reference 414

Appendix J Selected technical features of the State

Water Project in California 415

Reference 416

Appendix K Selected characteristics of some

of the completed or proposed inter-basin

water transfer projects in Australia, United States,

Canada, China and India, in chronological order 417

Glossary 423

Index 429

CONTENTS xiii











Foreword

A fundamental problem that is facing the water profession

at present is its inability to look to the future. An implicit

assumption has been that future water availability, use

and demand patterns will basically be similar to what have

mostly been witnessed in the past, with perhaps only incre-

mental changes. The water profession has been repeating ad

nauseaum for the last four decades that ‘‘business as usual’’

is not an option but continues to behave as if there is no

other option. The only difference that can be noted during

the past decade is that the rhetoric of ‘‘business as usual’’ is

not an option has intensified immensely, but it has not

resulted in any perceptible change in terms of actions.

Based on the research carried out at the Third World

Centre for Water Management, it can be said with consi-

derable confidence that the world of water management will

change more during the next 20 years, compared to the past

2000 years. The structures of water availability, use patterns

and overall demands will change radically because of many

factors, some known but the others mostly unknown. The

factors that are mostly being ignored at present are likely

to have increasingly more impacts on water-related issues

during the coming decades. Among these factors are

radically changing population dynamics (declining popula-

tion in many countries, population stabilisation in other

countries, increasing number of elderly people all over the

world, and especially in China during the post-2025 period,

etc.), concurrent urbanisation and ruralisation, globalisation

and free trade in agricultural and industrial products, infor-

mation and communication revolution, advances in technol-

ogy (especially in areas like biotechnology and desalination),

scramble for energy security by the major nations, and

uncertainties associated with climate change. All of these will

have major implications for water planning and management

in the coming decades. Yet, none of these issues are being

seriously considered at present.

These uncertainties are especially important for consider-

ing future major inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) projects.

These projects often have gestation periods of 15 years or

more. Thus, unlike in the past, when it was comparatively

easy to predict future developments, and thus water require-

ments, the forecasting process will become exceedingly more

complex in the coming years. If the future water demands

cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty, it will

not be an easy task to analyse the needs, desirability and

cost-effectiveness of the proposed new IBWT projects.

Let us take only one example: the current on-going

discussions under the Doha round of negotiations under the

World Trade Organisation, and how this activity that is

seemingly unrelated to water could have major implications

in the future on the water sector. Irrespective of whatever

may be the final results of the Doha round, it is now certain

that agricultural subsidies and tariffs will be reduced quite

significantly within the next 10 to 20 years. The only question

is when and by how much. By 2020, only 14 years from now,

we can say with certainty that we shall see considerable

progress in terms of reduction in agricultural subsidies,

even though we cannot say definitively when exactly this will

occur, or by how much. Because of these important changes,

the structure of agricultural production in numerous

countries will change very substantially, along with their

agricultural water requirements, which globally is the largest

user of water at present.

When our Centre was requested to undertake an

independent review of the Spanish Plan to transfer water

from the Ebro River to the southern coastal areas of Spain,

our conclusions were that if we consider the conditions that

are likely to prevail during the post-2020 period, when the

Plan may become operational, it may be difficult to justify

even the existing agricultural water use patterns, let alone

expect higher water uses. This is because the structure of

water demand is likely to change radically in Western Europe

because of new global agricultural trade agreements, chang-

ing socio-political considerations, and economic and tech-

nological developments. In addition, the officially estimated

xv






cost of delivering per cubic metre of the Ebro water to the

Levante basins is nearly 50 percent higher than the current

cost of desalination of sea water. Accordingly, even though

the Spanish Parliament had earlier approved the Ebro water

transfer, it later decided to cancel this plan.

The Ebro example, however, should not be construed to

mean that in the future no inter-basin water transfer schemes

will be necessary. Rather, each case must be carefully

considered and analysed in terms of future water require-

ments and societal expectations when the projects are

expected to be completed, and not on the basis of the

prevailing conditions when the planning starts. The two sets

of conditions are likely to be very different, a fact that has

thus far been mostly ignored by the water professionals. If

after objective analyses, it is considered that an IBWT

project is necessary and can be justified on economic, social

and environmental terms, its construction should proceed.

A major problem facing the developing world at present is

the knee-jerk reactions of certain activist groups, primarily

from the Western countries, that large scale water develop-

ments are no longer necessary, and that the water require-

ments of the future can be taken care of by small-scale

projects like rainwater harvesting. It is difficult to have any

sympathy with such a dogmatic view. First, large dams or

small projects are not an either/or proposition. At a certain

location and at a certain time, a large project may prove to

be the best solution. Equally, at another place, a small

project may be more appropriate. Many times, the two

alternatives may even have to co-exist. An objective analysis

of past water development projects from different parts of

the world indicates that small can be beautiful, but it can also

be ugly. Similarly, big can be magnificent, but it can also

be a disaster. Each case must be judged by its site-specific

conditions and its own merits. Dogmatic views are invariably

wrong and socially unproductive on a long-term basis. For a

heterogeneous and rapidly changing world, there is no other

alternative but to consider plurality of paradigms. One size

simply does not fit all.

In addition, a vast majority of water professionals and

international institutions do not understand the water

problems of developing countries, all of which are in tropic

and semi-tropical climates with pronounced seasonality in

precipitation patterns. This is in sharp contrast to developed

countries, all of which (except Australia) are in temperate

climates with a much more even distribution of precipitation

within the year, and also between the years.

Let us take the case of India, much of which receives its

annual rainfall in less than 100 hours (not necessarily

consecutive). The main water problem of India thus is how

to store this immense amount of rainfall over such a short

period so that water is available for various uses throughout

the year. For the large Indian cities, there is simply no other

alternative but to build large dams so that water is available

on a reliable basis throughout the year. In other parts of

India, depending upon the local conditions, rainwater

harvesting may prove to be the best solution. Thus, the

main questions with large dams, which are invariably

components of IBWT projects, is not whether they should

be built, since there may not be any alternative to them under

certain conditions, but to ensure that they are built and

managed in a way that is economically efficient, socially

desirable and environmentally acceptable.

Another important problem in the water resources area is

the lack of reliable and basic information. For example,

current estimates of global water withdrawal figures can at

best be of very limited use. First, we do not even know with

any degree of reliability how much water a major country

like India or China withdraws, let alone many other smaller

countries. Thus, one has no idea about the accuracy of the

current global water abstraction and use estimates. Almost

certainly, they are all wide of the mark.

Second, the quantity of water abstracted, even if this

estimate was known reliably, is increasingly becoming less

and less meaningful for planning and management purposes.

Water is not like oil which can be used only once. Some have

estimated that each drop of the Colorado River water is used

several times. If the management practices can be improved,

the extent of water reuse will increase very substantially. As

water is reused more and more, both formally and

informally, the information on how much water is being

withdrawn becomes increasingly less and less relevant. Even

for highly developed countries of Western Europe, or the

United States, we have only very limited information as to

the quantity of water that is being reused. For developing

countries, we simply do not have any idea. All we can say is

that the amount that is being reused is very high, and the

extent of reuse is increasing everywhere.

In this context, a few comments on the World Commission

on Dams are appropriate. Regrettably, the report of the

Commission leaves much to be desired. Not surprisingly,

one of its two god-fathers, the World Bank, did not endorse

the report, and the major dam-building countries like China,

India and Turkey, have very specifically rejected this report.

Some of its views are fundamentally erroneous. For

example, the Commission has claimed that 40�80 million

people have been displaced by large dams. No knowledge-

able and objective expert will accept even the lower estimate

of 40 million, which is wide of the mark. The total estimate is

likely to be very significantly less. To claim that it could be as

high as 80 million is patently ridiculous. The main problem

xvi FOREWORD






with the so-called knowledge-base developed by the

Commission is that it is full of chaff, but it may contain

some wheat. However, absence of serious peer reviews of its

case studies has meant that it is impossible to separate the

wheat from the chaff.

The authors of this book, Fereidoun Ghassemi and Ian

White, have done a remarkable job in assembling and

analysing an immense amount of data on inter-basin water

transfer projects from Australia, United States, Canada,

China and India. Many of these data are not easily available.

Some of the information like those on the Australian

pioneers of IBWT is mostly unknown at present. Thus, the

book should be of special significance to all the water

professionals interested in IBWT. I am thus confident that

the water profession will consider this book to be an

important contribution to the literature.

Atizapan, Mexico Asit K. Biswas

April 2006 President Third World

Centre for Water Management

and the 2006 Stockholm Water

Prize Laureate

FOREWORD xvii











Overview and Scope

Large water infrastructure projects were completed through-

out the world during the twentieth century to meet the

increasing demands of burgeoning populations for irrigation

and domestic water supplies. These projects saw the cons-

truction of dams, reservoirs, pipelines, pumping stations,

hydro-power plants and irrigation systems within river

basins. In several countries, major and in some cases

almost heroic, projects were undertaken to transfer water

from basins considered to have surplus water to basins where

water demand exceeded or was expected to exceed the

available supply. This book compares the contexts and

experiences in inter-basin water transfer in countries with

widely different water needs, population pressures, econo-

mies and forms of government.

Most large water infrastructure and inter-basin water

transfer projects in the past were the domain of engineers

and government bureaucrats. Many were undertaken with

minimal assessment of environmental or social impacts and

with rudimentary and in some cases doubtful cost�benefit

analyses. Community participation in such schemes was

either nonexistent or token. While many have benefited from

such schemes, there has often been marked inequity in the

distribution of benefits. There have been significant social,

economic and environmental impacts, with poor and

indigenous communities frequently bearing a dispropor-

tionate share of the impacts. Globally, millions of people

have been displaced by large water projects. The predicted

performance of water projects and projected cost recovery

and profitability has often proved illusory. Rivers and lakes

have dried to a trickle, aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity

have declined, and sediment delivery to floodplains has been

reduced while expensive dams have silted up. As a result of

these issues, the World Bank has been impelled to change its

policy and currently demands detailed impact assessment of

water resources development projects before approving their

funding. Furthermore, the World Commission on Dams,

following its extensive review of major water infrastructure

projects, has recommended seven strategic priorities and

related policy principles for making decisions on dam

construction and inter-basin water transfer.

The proposal early in the twentieth century in the United

States to build the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct to meet San

Francisco’s increasing demands for freshwater was possibly

the first inter-basin transfer scheme to face significant

opposition because of perceived adverse environmental

impacts. In 1913, that opposition failed to stop construction

and the dispute over its impacts continues to the present.

Communities, particularly in the developed world, have

become increasingly vocal over proposed water projects,

questioning needs, benefits, costs and impacts, demanding

better information, protection of the environment and social

and cultural values, and a voice in the decision process.

Proposals for the inter-basin transfer of water continue

to evoke heated disputes because of disagreements over

benefits, costs and impacts. For example, in the 2005

Western Australian State election, the US$9 billion inter-

basin water transfer proposal from the Kimberley region in

the north of the State to Perth in the south was a key and

deciding election issue which resulted in the defeat of the

opposition who supported the project. In these often lengthy

disputes, limited use has been made of analyses of previous

inter-basin transfer projects. The aim of this book is

to present as dispassionate an account as possible of the

history and technology of inter-basin water transfer under

contrasting conditions in Australia, the western United

Sates, Canada, China and India. These countries vary

dramatically in climate, from the driest inhabited continent

to one with the highest per capita annual quantity of

freshwater; in political systems, from centrally planned to

free market; and in different stages of economic develop-

ment. Our goal in this wide-ranging analysis is to draw

general lessons from the experiences of these widely diverse

countries in inter-basin water transfer so that past mistakes

will not be repeated.

In developed countries with relatively low rates of

population increase, such as Australia, the United Sates

xix






and Canada, priorities have now moved from increas-

ing water harvesting to meet untrammelled water demand

to water conservation, especially through improvements in

water use efficiency in all sectors of the economy and

particularly in irrigation. Emphasis is being placed on water

pricing and water trading and on the reuse of treated waste-

water, conjunctive use of surface and groundwater, precipi-

tation enhancement, rainwater harvesting, and to a lesser

extent desalination. In developing countries, with rapidly

expanding economies, increasing populations and urgent

water demands, such as China and India, the imperative is to

meet regional water and power needs. In such countries, and

in areas that are expected to experience decreases in water

availability due to global warming, inter-basin transfer of

water remains attractive.

This book is divided into four parts. Part I overviews

information about world water resources and summarises

the key issues that have arisen in inter-basin water transfer

and in large water infrastructure projects throughout the

world. It provides a framework for examining inter-basin

transfer proposals. Part II focuses on land and water scarcity

issues, policy changes and the Australian experience in inter-

basin transfer. Australia is undergoing the most profound

changes in water policy and strategy since federation in 1901.

These changes are based on the need for pricing mechanisms

to reflect the true costs in supplying water, and the need to

better balance water allocation between consumers and the

environment. Part III examines selected inter-basin transfers

in the United States, Canada, China and India. Finally,

Part IV consists of numerous appendices.

In Part I, Chapter 1 provides an overview of world

challenges, which includes topics such as: population, land

degradation, water resources and the extent of their develop-

ments, dams and transfer of water from one basin to another,

climate change and its impacts on water resources, agricul-

ture, and food production. Here, the limitations of the world’s

land and water resources, faced with an increasing population

and prospects of global warming, are explored. Chapter 2

describes major issues relevant to the inter-basin water

transfer including topography, geology, hydrology, environ-

mental considerations, land degradation, social and cultural

issues, economic appraisal, and conflicts and their resolution.

It concludes that inter-basin water transfer projects require

detailed multidisciplinary investigations and an integrated

approach in assessment of projects.

In Part II, Chapter 3 provides an introduction to

Australia’s geography, population, climate, agriculture,

water resources, and estimates of its future water require-

ments. This is a prelude to the following chapters on inter-

basin water transfer in Australia. Chapter 4 describes the

Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme, its history,

technical features, finance, and other related issues.

Chapter 5 describes numerous proposals developed for the

inland transfer of water from coastal river basins of New

South Wales, such as the Clarence, Macleay, Manning and

Tuross and outlines the reasons for their rejection. Chapter 6

details the Bradfield and the Reid schemes for inland

diversion of coastal rivers of Queensland. Chapter 7 describes

three schemes for flooding of Lake Eyre, located at the

centre of the continent, by diversion of surface water from

coastal rivers of Queensland, by seawater from South

Australia and by groundwater from the Great Artesian

Basin. The idea was inspired by a similar proposal for

flooding of the Sahara depressions in north Africa with

Mediterranean Sea water under the erroneous assumption

that this would change local rainfall and climate. Chapter 8

examines the history and construction of the Goldfields

Pipeline in Western Australia, the first major water transfer

project in Australia, completed in 1903. Chapter 9 examines

the politically contentious proposals for water transfer from

the Kimberley region in the north of Western Australia to

Perth and Adelaide. Chapter 10 covers a number of large

to relatively small projects for domestic, irrigation and

mining water supply in South Australia, Queensland and

New South Wales.

In Part III, Chapter 11 explores water transfer projects

in the United States. It reviews water transfer projects in

California, and from the Colorado River Basin to its

neighbouring states. This chapter outlines policies developed

by the Federal and State Governments for the better

management of their currently developed resources in

order to satisfy water requirements in the ensuing two or

three decades without building new dams and initiating inter-

basin water transfer projects. Chapter 12 covers inter-basin

water transfer projects in Canada, developed mainly for

hydro-power generation rather than for irrigation or

domestic water supply. Chapter 13 examines the South to

North Water Transfer Project in China planned to overcome

serious water shortage and environmental degradation in the

North China Plain. It also describes China’s continuing dam

construction and inter-basin water transfer projects, and its

efforts to implement water conservation measures. In

Chapter 14, India’s response to its growing water demands,

rapidly developing economy, and variable distribution of

water are discussed. Its highly controversial planned

National Rivers-Linking Project is considered. Finally,

Chapter 15 highlights successes, failures and provides point-

ers for the future of inter-basin water transfer projects.

International meetings over the past two decades have

increasingly drawn attention to the shortfalls in good quality

xx OVERVIEW AND SCOPE






water for human needs, particularly in drier areas with high

population growth rates, and to the environmental and

ecological impacts of human activities and interventions in

the hydrologic cycle on water systems. The United Nations

General Assembly Millennium Declaration in 2000 resolved,

‘‘to halve by the year 2015 the proportion of the world’s

population who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking

water’’ and ‘‘to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water

resources’’. The Implementation Plan of the World Summit

on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 had as

one of its aims to ‘‘improve the efficient use of water resources

and promote their allocation among competing uses in a way

that gives priority to the satisfaction of basic human needs and

balances the requirement of preserving or restoring ecosystems

and their functions, in particular fragile environments, with

human domestic, industrial and agricultural needs, including

safeguarding drinking water quality’’. These goals represent

enormous tasks.

In the developed world, with more stable populations,

emphasis is being placed on water conservation and reuse

and on restoring or mitigating aquatic ecosystems impacted

by water developments. In the developing world, rapidly

increasing water demand requires new water infrastructure

and perhaps inter-basin transfer projects to assist in

alleviating poverty, and satisfying basic water, food and

fibre demands. In numerous cases alternative options to

inter-basin water transfer may exist. They need to be

explored and implemented where possible. It is our hope

that the material and analyses presented in this book will be

useful to decision-makers, researchers, university students

and general public in both developed and developing worlds

in stimulating debate and informing decisions on new inter-

basin water transfer proposals and in achieving negotiated

outcomes with active participation of all stakeholders.

Fereidoun Ghassemi and Ian White

OVERVIEW AND SCOPE xxi











Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank sincerely all those people

who reviewed various chapters/sections of the book and

made constructive comments or assisted us by providing

information. These are:

A. Australia

Arthington, Angela (Prof.): Centre for Riverine Land-

scapes, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Griffith

University, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland.

Ballard, Jeff (Mr): Infrastructure Engineer, NQ Water,

Townsville, Queensland.

Barnes, Marilla (Ms): Corporate Communications, SA

Water Corporation, Adelaide, South Australia.

Braaten, Robert (Mr): Water Management Division,

DIPNR,1 Sydney, New South Wales.

Chartres, Colin (Dr): Deputy Chief, CSIRO Land and

Water, Canberra.

Close, Andrew (Mr): Manager, Water Resources Group,

Murray�Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.

Commander, Philip (Mr): Department of Environment,

Perth, Western Australia.

Crabb, Peter (Dr): Visiting Fellow, CRES,2 ANU.3

Croke, Barry (Dr): Joint CRES and iCAM4 Research

Fellow at ANU.

Dovers, Stephen (Prof.): CRES, ANU.

Dunlop, Michael (Dr): Resource Futures Program, CSIRO

Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra.

Everson, Derek (Mr): Water Management Division,

DIPNR, Sydney, New South Wales.

Fisher, Sarah (Ms): Senior Planning Engineer, Infrastruc-

ture Planning Branch, Water Corporation, Leederville,

Western Australia.

Fitt, Gary P. (Dr): Chief Executive Officer, Australian

Cotton Cooperative Research Centre, Narrabri, New

South Wales.

Fitzgerald, Bruce (Mr): Water Management Division,


Ghadiri, Hossein (Dr): Senior Lecturer, Centre for Riverine

Landscapes, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Griffith

University, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland.

Grafton, R. Quentin (Prof.): International and Develop-

ment Economics, Asia Pacific School of Economics and

Government, ANU.

Hamblin, Ann (Dr): Visiting Fellow, CRES, ANU.

Hazell, Donna (Dr): Post Doctoral Fellow, CRES, ANU.

Hughes, Robert (Mr): Manager System Control, SA Water

Corporation, Adelaide, South Australia.

Jakeman, Anthony, J. (Prof.): Director, Integrated

Catchment Assessment and Management (iCAM) Centre,

ANU.

Johnson, Ken (Mr): School of Resources, Environment and

Society, ANU.

Jotzo, Frank (Mr): PhD candidate, CRES, ANU.

Locher, Helen (Dr): Environmental Programs Manager,

Hydro Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania.

Logan, John (Mr): Chairman, Western Agricultural

Industries Pty Limited, Neutral Bay, Sydney, NSW.

Magee, John (Dr): Australian Research Council Queen

Elizabeth II Fellow, Department of Earth and Marine

Sciences, Faculty of Science, ANU.

Martin, Gary (Mr): Manager Water Services, Bowen Shire

Council, 67 Herbert Street, Bowen, Queensland.

McKenzie, Neil (Dr): Research Group Leader, CSIRO

Land and Water, Canberra.

McLeod, Ivan (Dr): Project Manager, Western Agricultural

Industries Pty Limited, Perth, Western Australia.

Meehan, David (Mr): Project Manager, Office of Major

Projects, Department of Industry and Resources, Perth,

Western Australia.

1 Department of Infrastructure, Planing and Natural Resources.2 Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies.3 The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.4 Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre.

xxiii






Neilson, Danielle (Ms): Marketing Services Officer, Snowy

Hydro Limited, Cooma, New South Wales.

Nix, Henry (Emeritus Prof.): Visiting Fellow, CRES,

ANU.

Ollier, Cliff (Prof.): School of Earth and Geographic

Science, University of Western Australia, Nedlands,

Western Australia.

Pagan, Adrian (Emeritus Prof.): Economics Program,

Research School of Social Sciences, ANU.

Parsons, Andrew (Mr): Engineering and Projects, SAWater

Corporation, Adelaide.

Perkins, Paul (Adjunct Prof.): CRES, ANU.

Ray, Binayak (Mr): Visiting Fellow, Department of

Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific

and Asian Studies, ANU.

Rebello, Gerry (Mr): Water Management Division,


Rose, Deborah (Dr): Senior Fellow, CRES, ANU.

Smith, David Ingle (Mr): Visiting Fellow, CRES, ANU.

Smith, Peter (Mr): Manager of the Utility Services, BHP

Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, Riverside Centre, Brisbane,

Queensland.

Stein, Janet (Mrs): Research Officer and PhD Candidate,

CRES, ANU.

Walkemeyer, Peter (Mr): Project Manager, Project

Management Branch, Water Corporation, Leederville,

Western Australia.

West, Adam (Mr): Water Planning Coordinator, Queens-

land Department of Natural Resources and Mines,

Townsville.

White, Geoffrey B. (Mr): Chairman, White Industries

Australia Limited, Suite 214, Harrington Street, Sydney,

New South Wales.

B. Other countries

Alemi, Manucher (Dr): Office of Water Use Efficiency,

Department of Water Resources, Sacramento, California,

USA.

Day, J. Chadwick (Emeritus Prof.): School of Resource and

Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University,

Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada.

Flugel, Wolfgang-Albert (Prof.): Chair and Head, Depart-

ment of Geoinformatics, Hydrology and Modelling,

Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany.

Fried, Jean (Prof.): Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg,

France.

Howard, Ken (Prof.): Groundwater Research Group,

Scarborough Campus, University of Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

Letolle, Rene (Prof.): Universite Pierre et Marie Curie

(Paris 6), Campus Jussieu, Paris, France.

Quinn, Frank (Dr): Formerly, Chief of Water Policy and

Transboundary Issues, Environment Canada, Ottawa,

Canada.

Renzetti, Steven (Prof.): Department of Economics, Brock

University, Ontario, Canada.

Reynolds, Dean (Dr): Associate Land and Water

Use Analyst, Department of Water Resources, Sacramen-

to, California, USA.

Shao, Xuejun (Prof.): Department of Hydraulic

Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Shields, Tina (Ms): Assistant Manager, Water

Department, Resource Planning and Management, Im-

perial Irrigation District, California, USA.

Storey, Brit Allan (Dr): Senior Historian, US Bureau of

Reclamation, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Tharme, Rebecca (Ms): International Water Management

Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Wolfgang, Carolann (Dr): Geohydrologist, SAIC, 525

Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, California, USA.

Our special thanks go to Professor Anthony Jakeman for

his support of this project and Professor Angela Arthington

for writing the section on ‘‘Environmental Flow Requirements

of Rivers’’. We also thank Dr Anthony Scott for his valuable

comments and copy-editing, Mr Clive Hilliker for graphics

and Dr McComas Taylor for his valuable editorial advice.

xxiv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS






List of Abbreviations

ABARE Australian Bureau of Agricultural and

Resource Economics

ACT Australian Capital Territory

ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution

AHD Australian Height Datum

ALP Australian Labor Party

AMSL Above Mean Sea Level

ANF Average Natural Flow

ASSOD Assessment of the Status of Human-Induced

Soil Degradation

ATSIC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Commission

BBM Building Block Methodology

BHP Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited

BMA BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance

CALFED CALiforniaFEDeral

C-BT Colorado-Big Thompson

CIMIS California Irrigation Management

Information System

CMG Commander of order of St Michael and

St George

CRC Cooperative Research Centre

CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial

Research Organisation

CUP Central Utah Project

CUWCD Central Utah Water Conservancy District

CVP Central Valley Project

CVPIA Central Valley Project Improvement Act

DIMIA Department of Immigration and

Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

DLWC Department of Land and Water

Conservation (currently Department of

Infrastructure, Planning and Natural

Resources)

DRIFT Downstream Response to Imposed Flow

Transformations

DWR Department of Water Resources

EA Environmental Assessment

EC Electrical Conductivity

EFA Environmental Flow Assessment

EFR Environmental Flow Requirement

EIS Environmental Impact Statement

EMBUD East Bay Municipal Utility District

EPA Environmental Protection Authority

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations

Fry-Ark Fryingpan-Arkansas

FSL Full Supply Level

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GEWEX Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment

GIS Geographic Information System

GLASOD Global Assessment of Soil Degradation

GWh Gigawatt hours

ha Hectare (10 000m2)

HEC Hydro-Electric Commission

HRC Healthy Rivers Commission

IDC Infrastructure Development Corporation

IGBP International Geosphere�Biosphere

Programme

IID Imperial Irrigation District

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

ISRIC International Soil Reference and

Information Centre

IWMI International Water Management Institute

IWSS Integrated Water Supply Scheme

kW Kilowatt

kWh Kilowatt hours

Lh�1 d�1 Litre per head per day

LPG Liquefied petroleum gas

m Metre

mm Millimetre

m3 Cubic metre

M Million

MDB Murray�Darling Basin

MDBC Murray�Darling Basin Commission.

MDBMC Murray�Darling Basin Ministerial Council

xxv






MDIA Mareeba�Dimbulah Irrigation Area

MDWSS Mareeba�Dimbulah Water Supply Scheme

MoU Memorandum of Understanding

Mt Million tonnes

MW Megawatt

MWD Metropolitan Water District

NCWCD Northern Colorado Water

Conservancy District

NGOs Non Government Organisations

NSW New South Wales

NT Northern Territory

NWC National Water Commission

NWDA National Water Development Agency

NWI National Water Initiative

ORIA Ord River Irrigation Area

ORIS Ord River Irrigation Scheme

OWUE Office of Water Use Efficiency

PCA Permanent Court of Arbitration

ppb Part per billion

ppm Part per million

PRC People’s Republic of China

QLD Queensland

R&D Research and Development

s Second

SA South Australia

SDCWA San Diego County Water Authority

SMHEA Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority

SNWTP South-to-North Water Transfer Project

SOI Southern Oscillation Index

SWP State Water Project

SWRCB State Water Resources Control Board

SWUA Strawberry Water User’s Association

t Tonne (1000 kg)

tpa Tonnes per annum

TDS Total Dissolved Solids

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme

UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and

Cultural Organisation

URL Uniform Resource Locater

USBR United States Bureau of Reclamation

USRS United States Reclamation Service1

VIC Victoria

WA Western Australia

WAI Western Agricultural Industries Pty Limited

WCD World Commission on Dams

WRC Water and Rivers Commission

yr Year

1 The United States Reclamation Service was established within

the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in July 1902. Then, in 1907, the

Secretary of Interior separated the Reclamation Service from the

USGS and created an independent bureau within the Department

of the Interior. In 1923 the agency was renamed the ‘‘United States

Bureau of Reclamation’’ (http://www.usbr.gov/history/borhist.html

visited in April 2005).

xxvi ABBREVIATIONS






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