Sydney’s desalination plant was likely to be switched on this weekend because of falling dam levels and the drought, the New South Wales resources minister said.

The plant is turned on when water storages drop below 60%.

“The dam levels are at 60.1% today and they’ve been falling,” Don Harwin said on Thursday.

“The likelihood is that the desal will be commissioned on Saturday and start its work then.”

The state government’s latest drought statement showed the whole state was drought-affected, and almost a third was classified as being in intense drought.

Harwin said Sydneysiders could expect their water bills to increase by about $30 but “we have the lowest water bills of any major city across Australia”.

Once turned on the plant must run for 14 months under the metropolitan water plan.

Harwin defended that contractual arrangement: “[The plant] needs a certain amount of time before it reaches a full level of operation.

“That could take as much as eight months anyway before it’s at a full operational level supplying 15% of Sydney’s water.

“So I think that contract term is an appropriate term.”

The plant could produce up to 250 megalitres of fresh water a day, approximately 15% of Sydney’s water demand, the state government said.

Australia recorded its hottest December on record, the Bureau of Meteorology said last week in a special climate statement on “the unusual extended period of heatwaves” across much of the country.



