Future electricity demand for desalination is why windmills and solar panels won't be enough. The original Snowy 1 would probably not get built today yet it diverts a huge amount of water to the inland. We need it yet we despise it. Just this week Pt Lincoln SA announced a new desal for a protected bay while another is planned a bit further up the coast. Where will the power come from? Apparently a hydrogen power station despite the fact no such thing exists on a commercial basis.

On the one hand we have the fantasy of mythical power sources against the reality of a booming population. New migrants please bring several hundred thousand litres of water with you. Everything will go up in price, not just housing but water, electricity and food. Yet every politician wants more people. Make the politicians pay for it.

It ain`t rocket science.
TOO MANY HUMANS.

This article is nonsense.

By far the biggest consumer of water in Australia is the agriculture sector – accounting for almost 75% of consumption. Most agricultural produce is exported. In effect, we export water embedded in agricultural products because water is cheap and abundant in Australia. There is a useful discussion to be had about whether agriculture is under-charged for the water it uses, or whether more should be reserved for the environment. But population growth has negligible effect on agricultural water consumption.

Households account for just 13% of water consumption in Australia.

Australia’s population grew by 11% between 2013-14 and 2021-22 (the period covered in the latest water account) but households’ water consumption rose by just 5%. Average household use has fallen steadily over time. In other sectors water consumption intensity has fallen even more sharply. Over the same 8-year period Australia’s total water consumption actually decreased by 8%.

Desalinating seawater is sustainable. Properly planned, it is a great use of renewable energy, because it can be done when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining – when renewable energy supply is at its highest - and so has negligible marginal cost or greenhouse gas emissions. Sydney’s desalination plant uses 100% renewable energy.

Data sources:

Water consumption:
http://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/environment/environmental-management/water-account-australia/2021-22

Population:
http://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population/mar-2024#data-downloads

Sydney desalination:
http://sydneydesal.com.au/calls_to_action/renewable-energy/