Water Minister Lisa Neville in studio with Neil Mitchell
The controversial North South pipeline will be tested, after years of inactivity caused major problems with the Desal plant.
Technical issues delayed the delivery of the first water order from the desal plant.
The government has now announced it will purchase a minimum 15 gigalitres a year to keep it running and prevent similar issues in the future.
Water Minister Lisa Neville told Neil Mitchell, ‘It’s about just over $600m a year in order to keep the desal plant there, operating and ready-to-go.’
The $750 million dollar North South Pipeline, which was built to send water from the North to Melbourne in times of drought, has also not been used.
The Minister says the pipeline could be reversed and will be tested.
‘The electricity plant itself works there, but I also don’t want to take any water from the north. The north needs all that water sitting up there’
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