Latest Update - Northern Water Supply

Stakeholder Analysis Workshop Summary

On Wednesday 26 October 2022, 22 key stakeholders representing 18 different organisations met in Whyalla, to discuss the Northern Water Supply project. Participants represented a wide range of interest groups and organisations including Traditional Owners, environmental groups, fisheries, community members, landholders, Local Government, state government and industry.

A thorough project update was provided including presentations from Whyalla City Council, the Project team and South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). A summary of each presentation is provided below and the presentations can be downloaded here.

Following the presentations, participants were invited to take part in a range of activities where they could provide input to the planning and assessment processes for the project.

Activity 1 related to the development of criteria to be used in a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) which will be used to inform the selection of a preferred study site to be the focus of the business case and detailed environmental studies. The first part of the activity was to review the high-level themes and related criteria which would be used to evaluate the potential sites. For the second part, participants selected their own area of interest and undertook a deeper dive, looking at what the desired outcome might look like for that criterion and what performance measures could be used in the assessment process.

Activity 2 provided the opportunity for participants, working in these subject interest groups, to identify what they consider the most important aspects to be considered in the project assessment process, and identify how these should be addressed.

In Activity 3 the whole group identified what they believed good project outcomes would look like for the marine environment, community, economic and environment generally. A world café model was used which allowed participants to contribute to all themes.

Presentation summary

Justin Commons - Whyalla City Council

Justin set the scene by explaining the benefits that the project would bring to Whyalla and the Upper Spencer Gulf region. He explained that his vision is for Whyalla and the Upper Spencer Gulf to be a hub for environmentally sustainable development and Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) investment.

Mike Morgan - Project Director, Infrastructure SA

Mike provided a project overview including how we got to where we are now and what the next steps are for the project.

Craig Headon - Principal Engineer

Craig presented on desalination trends worldwide, desalination technology and technical considerations for this project.

Dr Mark Doubell - SARDI Oceanography

Mark spoke about the research that SARDI has undertaken to inform the project to date. He also provided information about the oceanographic movements in the Gulf and where there are still gaps in our knowledge.

Lots of information was captured on the day and the team is in the process of finalising a summary of what we heard. This will be uploaded here in early December 2022.