Missed water testing and algal bloom ‘red tape’ under microscope
The Environment Protection Agency missed an entire year of SA water testing – just after River Murray floodwaters gushed into the sea – because a key staff member took leave, the algal bloom inquiry heard.
In 2023, after River Murray floodwaters gushed into the sea near Goolwa, the EPA did not undertake baseline water testing because its principal marine scientist was on leave, the state’s inquiry into the harmful algal bloom heard on Monday afternoon.
Scientist Samuel Gaylard, who leads the water testing program, told the committee he took a mid-career break, and “other regulatory work” took precedent.
EPA’s water chemistry scientific officer, Clive Jenkins, later added that the EPA did not undertake monitoring in 2023 because “we had to pivot to urgent priority work in the Port River”.
Chief Executive Jon Gorvett said “resourcing is always an issue” but that in recent months the EPA had “deployed resources” to make sure there was “sufficient backup”.
When asked if there would be future delayed testing if a staff member is away in the future, Gorvett said, “I would hope not”.
Liberal spokesperson Nicola Centofanti told InDaily it was a “huge concern” that a single person taking a break could stall a program “as important as the baseline water quality monitoring”.
“There was a lack of resourcing that essentially meant that our oceans didn’t have any of the water monitored for things like nutrients, for phosphorus, for nitrogen, the things that we know can increase the risk of algal bloom forming,” she said.
“I think the question really needs to be asked: if there was more regular baseline water quality monitoring, and if the department hadn’t missed an entire year of it, would we have been able to mitigate some of this algal bloom?”
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River Murray floodwater gushed into the sea from the Murray Mouth near Goolwa during 2022 and 2023. The hearing heard that flood water created high levels of nutrients in sea water and, in combination with a marine heatwave in September 2024, created “an environment in which the bloom was able to initiate and then to bloom”.
Environment Minister Lucy Hood told ABC Radio on Tuesday morning that the EPA undertakes in-depth testing of one to two sites per year on a five-year rotation, a process that has been ongoing since the previous Liberal government.
Hood said the 2024 testing in the St Vincent Gulf gave the government a “good baseline” post-algal bloom.
But Centofanti said the process of sampling certain regions once or twice every five years was not followed by the EPA in 2023, and that was “not good enough”.
“The five-year rotation is just not effective enough, and the Premier always talks about things like algal bloom being dynamic, and things rapidly changing in our oceans,” she said.
“Expanding that baseline marine monitoring program is an absolute must, and I’d be calling on the government to do just that.”
The Greens are also calling for algal bloom testing to be stepped up, with leader Robert Simms, who is chairperson of the inquiry, saying the evidence raised “serious questions about the State Government’s preparedness and response to this harmful algal bloom disaster”.
“It’s deeply concerning to learn that there were serious gaps in the EPA’s testing regime in the lead up to the outbreak of this algal bloom disaster and that a review of its approach to assessing the marine environment still hasn’t been carried out,” Simms said.
“The State Government must ensure that the EPA and other agencies are appropriately resourced and that regular testing is carried out. As we approach summer, careful monitoring of water quality will be vital to protect public health and to support rehabilitation and recovery planning.”
A government spokesperson told InDaily that staffing levels within the EPA have remained stable over recent years and that while the EPA is responsible for nutrient water testing, other testing was undertaken by different agencies.
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“Regular ongoing water monitoring is conducted by a number of government agencies, including PIRSA through the South Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program (SASQAP) in shellfish harvesting areas,” the spokesperson said.
“The State Government is investing in additional water monitoring and research as part of our comprehensive $102.5 million summer plan, and we will continue to support the EPA as it works closely with federal agencies to implement algal mitigation measures being developed.”
While EPA nutrient testing of individual regions was on a five-year cycle, weekly water testing was also occurring at 90 locations across the state, the spokesperson said.
There was also no testing carried out in 2020, which the committee heard was due to Covid restrictions.
Centofanti also questioned the EPA during the algal bloom hearing about why, eight months into the algal bloom, there were no mitigation trials underway to protect against future algal bloom events.
EPA Chief Executive Jon Gorvett said some proposals required federal approvals, from bodies such as the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
“I am confident our team are working as quickly as they can to navigate the various different technical and scientific and bureaucratic hurdles to get us to that point,” he said.
When asked if the EPA had raised “bureaucratic hurdles” with the environment minister, Gorvett said, “there is no requirement for political intervention”.
“There is a process which we have been going through with the federal bureaucrats,” he said.
Centofanti said it was concerning that the department publicly spoke about hurdles instead of solutions.
“I think it’s incredibly worrying that the department itself is publicly talking about bureaucratic hurdles when it comes to being able to trial algal mitigation methods,” Centofanti said.
“I think South Australians expect a government that acts, not one that hesitates and wraps itself up in red tape while our marine environments suffer.”
The EPA was contacted for comment.
