WA Water Minister Dave Kelly has announced millions of dollars of funding for agricultural regions to improve their local water security. $3.2 million has been distributed in the Community Water Supplies Partnership Program
Kelly congratulated regional shires across Western Australia for moving to establish infrastructure to improve emergency water supplies. They have also worked to increase the efficiency of their available water sources for irrigation community facilities.
“These projects support increased water security and the use of non-potable water supplies in place of our precious drinking water,” said Kelly.
Many communities throughout the agricultural region have experienced significantly reduced rainfall due to the impacts of climate change. The Community Water Supplies Partnership Program is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to ensure our farmers have access to reliable agricultural and emergency livestock drinking water sources.
Funding will assist rural communities in adapting to changing rainfall patterns by establishing infrastructure to maximise the efficient use of available water resources.
Improving local water security for Great Southern and Southern Wheatbelt communities
The regional shires of Lake Grace, Wagin, Pingelly, and Woodanilling will share in more than $472,507 in grants. Two grants for $100,000 and $96,574 have been awarded to the Shire of Lake Grace. It will help upgrade the Buniche and Dempster Rock agricultural dams and catchments, boosting supplies in local areas experiencing water deficiencies. Through these grants, the Shire will also install two 500 kilolitre tanks in Lake Grace town to store collected stormwater to support the increased water availability in the townsite.
A grant of $78,593 will help provide three additional access points for emergency water supply in the town of Wagin. The project will improve water security in Wagin and the wider community during an emergency.
The Shire of Woodanilling will receive funding totalling $99,975 to increase the capture and utilisation of stormwater from the town dam precinct. Two new tanks will provide more water storage, and an additional bore will supplement non-potable supplies during the dry summer months. This will provide more water for the community while reducing reliance on scheme water.
The Shire of Pingelly has also been granted $97,365 to expand the townsite’s non-potable supply network to help reduce the Shire’s reliance on scheme water to supplement irrigation of their sporting facilities.
This project will help maintain suitable turf conditions, allowing sports to be played throughout the summer and autumn months, which offers opportunities to attract higher profile sports games and more visitors to Pingelly.
Improving local water security for Mid-West and northern Wheatbelt communities
The regional shires of Moora, Morawa and Irwin will share more than $353,728 in grants. A grant of $100,000 will help the Shire of Irwin to expand its emergency water supplies through the construction of three new water tanks, two new bores and an upgrade of an existing bore – helping the community to better prepare for the impacts of climate change.
Two individual grants of $100,000 will contribute to the cost of improving the Shire of Moora’s recycled wastewater irrigation supply system. The two projects will enhance wastewater reuse management and increase the town’s volumes of fit-for-purpose water for irrigation purposes.
Funding of $53,728 will help with the cost of completing the Shire of Morawa’s emergency water supply project. This project will secure a reliable fit-for-purpose water supply in the Morawa-Yalgoo area of the Shire by installing a new bore, a submersible pump, a solar pump system and four new tanks. The project will assist with the region’s emergency water for livestock and firefighting needs.
Improving local water security for Eastern Wheatbelt communities
The eastern Wheatbelt shires of Merredin and Yilgarn will share more than $190,089 in grants. The Shire of Yilgarn has received a grant of $91,068 to upgrade Southern Cross townsite’s wastewater reuse system. It will also be used to help reduce the Shire’s reliance on scheme water, which is currently used with treated wastewater to meet irrigation requirements for the town’s recreation facilities.
A grant of $99,021 has also been awarded to the Shire of Merredin to contribute toward the cost of the infrastructure associated with a small-scale desalination unit. The unit will provide an emergency water source for the farming community. The project will desilt the existing brine evaporation ponds and connect the desalinated water to existing water storage facilities to improve water security in the Shire.
About the Community Water Supplies Partnership Program
The Community Water Supplies Partnership Program provides up to $100,000 per project for local government and community groups to develop off-farm community water supplies.
The $3.2 million Community Water Supplies Partnership Program is a collaboration between the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments.
Since May 2019, the Government has spent more than $3.9 million on direct water carting to water-deficient areas to support emergency livestock needs.
A further $2.64 million has been spent on developing and upgrading 113 strategic community water supplies and government-owned water sources since June 2018, and another $1.5 million in partnerships with local governments to upgrade and develop local community water supplies.
In November 2021, the Government announced an additional $10.5 million in funding over the next two years for projects to help secure additional off-farm non-potable water supplies for agricultural communities – including the upgrade and refurbishment of 70 agricultural area dams from the Mid-West, to the Wheatbelt and Great Southern.
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