Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, Senator Don Farrell, South Australian Minister for Water and the River Murray, Paul Caica, and Federal Member for Kingston, Amanda Rishworth, on Wednesday inspected the project, which forms the second stage of the Water Proofing the South initiative.

Senator Farrell said the project would reduce reliance on mains water and provide a more sustainable water source for irrigating local parks, reserves and sports fields.

“Wetlands will be constructed at Happy Valley and Reynella East, and enhanced at Seaford Rise and Aldinga Beach to capture, treat and store stormwater for reuse,” he said.

“Pipelines will also be built to connect the new wetlands with an existing stormwater harvesting site at Christies Creek to allow for the transfer of water between catchments.”

The Gillard Government is contributing $14.9 million, through the Water for the Future initiative, to support Stage 2 of Water Proofing the South and the Weatherill Government is providing $7.5 million.

Mr Caica said South Australia is a national leader in stormwater capture and reuse and South Australia is on track to exceed the Water for Good stormwater harvesting target of 20 billion litres a year by 2013.

“Water Proofing the South is a terrific example of Federal, State and Local Governments working together to exceed this ambitious target. It is innovative stormwater harvesting and reuse projects such as this one that are helping to ease the pressure on drinking supplies and deliver improved water quality.

Federal Member for Kingston Amanda Rishworth has been a longstanding advocate for this project which she believes will benefit both the environment and the local community.

“I know many local residents share my strong belief that we need to make every drop of water count, especially here in South Australia where we experience some of the most severe droughts,” she said.

“That is why I am pleased to see the development of Water Proofing the South Stage 2, which will help to secure sustainable water supplies for the South, help improve the local environment as well as beautifying public spaces that our community can enjoy.”

This project builds on Water Proofing the South Stage 1, which was completed in 2011. Stage 1 features projects that will deliver 3.8 billion litres of agricultural, viticultural and urban water each year for reuse, and provide 1.1 billion litres of additional storage.