More than $43 million being put into upgrading 70 WA dams, desalination and irrigation projects

Seventy dams which have fallen into disuse across the grainbelt will be brought back into action and pipelines in the Great Southern will be replaced thanks to a $43 million State and Federal government funding boost.

The Federal Government has agreed to fund $20 million out of its National Water Grid Fund, while the State will fund the remainder of the money.

It follows extensive lobbying by the State Government during the past 12 months to get its $7.3m Agricultural Area Dams and Strategic Community Water Supplies Project off the ground, following an almost $4m spend on carting emergency livestock water in the past two years.

This week the Federal Government agreed to foot half of the bill for the 70 dams, matching the State’s $3.65m contribution.

Dams in 36 local government areas in the Mid West, Great Southern and Wheatbelt will be cleaned and upgraded to provide additional water supply for growers, rather than “ad hoc” water carting when “things get grim”.

The Federal Government also allocated a further $16.36m towards eliminating irrigation run-off in the Ord, a desalination trial in Esperance, replacing sections of pipeline between Kojonup and Katanning, upgrading the Jerramungup dam and improvements to the Gascoyne Irrigation Scheme.

WA Water Minister Dave Kelly learnt of the applications’ success last week and was able to deliver the good news to the shires and farmers they were meeting on Thursday during a trip to officially open the Gnowangerup dam.

“I'm very pleased,” he said.

By funding these projects, we will increase the water storage capacity of many WA agricultural communities, and provide more reliable emergency agricultural and livestock water supplies for farmers to use during periods of dry conditions when on-farm supplies have been depleted.

WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan believed the projects would make a “big difference” to growers.

“Projects in the Ord and Gascoyne will enhance water efficiency and support the expansion of our high-value horticultural industry,” she said.

“The desalination project in Esperance will boost our Water-Smart Farms rollout.

It is important we continue to support our growers with the delivery of innovative new water infrastructure options as they continue to respond to the impacts of climate change.

While the funding was welcome, Mr Kelly said the State was set to miss out on $1.54 billion of Federal water grants only made available to Murray-Darling States.

“Sadly the Commonwealth has continued to demonstrate its Eastern States focus, with the recent announcement that an additional $1.54 billion for water grants would only be made available to Murray-Darling states, meaning Western Australia won’t be eligible for this important funding,” he said.

The State Government spent almost $4 million carting emergency livestock water to towns in the Great Southern, Esperance and Wheatbelt, with 12 water deficiency declarations since May 2019.

It comes after extensive lobbying by WA Water Minister Dave Kelly, who has been calling on the Federal Government to match the State’s contribution to secure water for farmers which have just battled through three years of drought.

WA PROJECTS

Upgrade and refurbish 70 agricultural area dams: $3.65 million (State), $3.65m (Federal)

Community Water Supply projects: $1.6m (State), $1.6m (Federal) plus local government funding

Ord Tailwater Return System and Esperance Small Scale Desalinisation pilot: $6.12m (State), $4.72m (Federal)

Water Corporation projects (dam catchment improvements and pipeline improvements in Great Southern): $8.95m (State), $7.55m (Federal)

Gascoyne Irrigation Scheme and Modernisation project: $2.48m (State), $2.48m (Federal)