It is misleading to talk about creating a national water 'grid' at this stage. In eastern Australia, one already exists. It is the river system, but that, being substantially dried up at present, is not of immediate relevance.

The major trouble spots are the coastal conurbations of Brisbane, Sydney, Melboune, and Adelaide. Toowoomba, Goulburn, and Ballaarat can be considered but simply small outliers that can, and should, be immediately supplied irrespective of shortage from the present Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne metropolitan supplies via pipelines at a charge primarily against the metropolitan centres of the respective States.

With the exception of Adelaide, each of these coastal conurbations has thermal power stations nearby that produce large amounts of waste heat. Queensland, NSW, and Victoria can proceed in the short term to implement fossil-fueled reduced-pressure multi-effect seawater desalination, accumulating concentrated brine in solar pondage for future energy supplies. Construction of engineered wetland basins discharging into the Murray-Darling basin for waste water disposal are an integral part of this proposal. Each of these conurbations has likely contributed heavily to the drying-out of adjacent inland Australia.

Adelaide is a special case. As with Hiroshima in a different context and epoch, there may have to be special plans for Adelaide. For the time being it has the Murray. It returned the governments that started this privatisation of public utilities: until it moves itself to discover how this may have been engineered, let it cop the consequences.

Perth, for the moment, is shifting well enough for itself.

To return to SEQ, as a first part of this integrated scheme, a pipeline should be constructed for desalinated water from Tarong to Toowoomba, as a substitute for the Emu Creek dam. See http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=256#4767 as to why. Toowoomba waste water, after relevant local use, can once again be returned to the Condamine, and hence the MDB, for natural recycling. Adelaide, here it comes.

Yes, we will need a national pipeline grid, but it will be for taking seawater to desalination facilities located close to future demand.