Minister says Arundel dam plan flawed

Victoria's Water Minister has hit out at the Opposition's plan to build a new dam at Arundel, near Melbourne airport.

The Opposition says the dam will store about 18,000 megalitres, and will make the city better able to cope with an extra million people, as planned by the Government by the year 2030.

But Water Minister John Thwaites says it is a ridiculous idea.

"This new dam will provide no new water in dry periods, it will cost more than $80 million, wreck the Maribyrnong, flood hundreds of acres, and provide almost no new water when we need it," he said.