The Victorian Government intends to build a desalination plant in Wonthaggi, about 130 kilometres southeast of Melbourne.

The idea behind the project is to provide Victoria with a source of water independent of environmental and climate factors.

The decision to build the plant came about largely because of Victoria’s recent history of low water catchment levels – a situation that has seen water usage restrictions placed on people in many parts of the state.

But in spite of the government’s tunnel-visioned, single-minded desire to build a desalination plant, compelling arguments suggest that it is not an environmentally acceptable way to secure Victoria’s water future.

One of the biggest issues repeatedly raised by opponents of the project is that salty discharges from the plant will be dumped in the ocean, as will chemicals and dead aquatic life. It has been argued that these pollutants will seriously damage the aquatic life of the Bass Coast, and the entire food chain of the area could be affected.

Others have questioned the validity of the data on which the decision to build the plant was made. The official water forecasts were based on a running regression through three drought years (2004 to 2006).

Opponents of the plant say at least a ten-year period should have been analysed, and not just the convenient recent period.