A $37 million plan to address the rising salinity issue in Wellington Dam was announced by Premier Colin Barnett last week.
At the announcement last Thursday, Mr Barnett said the project will build on the existing $5.7 million Myalup-Wellington Water for Food project, which is investigating new water supply options for the South-West in order to expand the Myalup Irrigated Agricultural Precinct and the Collie River Irrigation District.
Water Minister Mia Davies said the State Government funding would be used for irrigation infrastructure including a redeveloped Burekup Weir and a new pipe network.
"The Collie Water solution, an initiative by Harvey Water and Aqua Ferre, was selected following an expression of interest process conducted in late 2015," she said.
"The proposal involves the diversion of saline water from the Collie River east branch into a mine void; the treatment of that water in a new desalination plant near Collie; a new weir at Burekup and a gravity-fed pipeline system to replace open irrigation channels in the Collie irrigation district.”
Regional Development Minister Terry Redman said in a drying climate, the State was acting to ensure this important water resource was a strong driver of the State's economy for decades to come.
"The project is expected to deliver billions of dollars' worth of extra agricultural, horticultural and forestry revenue over 50 years and create jobs," he said.
"Through this $37 million investment, Royalties for Regions is setting the foundation for the sustainable development of agriculture that will bring great benefits to regional communities."
Member for O’Connor Rick Wilson MP will support the State Government in its efforts to secure Federal funding for the completion of the Myalup-Wellington Water for Food Project in Collie.
Mr Wilson said he would advocate for the project on behalf of Collie and the surrounding areas, with Federal funding most likely to be sought through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund.
“This is a very competitive programme – the Federal Government has held discussions with State and Territory Governments in relation to about 60 proposals seeking funding for feasibility studies,” he said.
“However, the WA Government has been extremely proactive in advancing its plans for this project and I’m optimistic we can present a good case to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources.
“There is huge potential for growth in the agriculture and horticulture industries, not only in Collie, but nearby areas from West Arthur to Narrogin.”
Collie-Preston MLA Mick Murray said the decade-plus delay on the long-term project was another example of the Liberal-National Government’s failure to plan for WA’s future.
“The Gallop Government’s project would have had potable water flowing by 2015 – but with the Barnett government asleep at the wheel now we’ll be lucky if we see a result by 2030,” he said.
“The South West is desperate for jobs. Economic diversification of the industry-dominated Collie-Preston region is critical for job creation into the future.
“If they had of got on with it in 2008, the South West would already be benefitting from new, innovative agricultural opportunities and the jobs that follow.”
Collie Water, led by Peter Fogarty's Pendulum Group and its water infrastructure company Aqua Ferre spent five years developing a plan to address the salinity issues in the Wellington Dam.
Mr Fogarty said the project to build a desalination plant will be an economically viable solution to the rising salinity levels in the dam.
“Most of them were rejected because they just didn’t stack up on an economic viability basis,” he said.
“Any plant that is a treatment plant or desalination plant is expensive to build and expensive to run - so if we then let that water go down the river and sell it to farmers who want to pay nothing much for the water then the economic model doesn’t work.”
Mr Fogarty said the construction and running of the desalination plant would create jobs for the local workforce. “It really has got lots of long term benefits for the whole town and everyone in it,” he said.
“When the public hear that we are taking all this water out of the river they think that we are killing the river- we are not taking all the water, there will be very strict conditions with our license that require us to maintain river flow and the better quality water going down the river.
“In addition we have agreed that we will work with the Collie Shire and with the Weeds and Waterways committee to come up with smarter ideas and things we can do to improve the river flow and the water flow and the catchment of water in the river, and that’s fundamental - Collie needs to have its river and quality water.”
Mr Fogarty said several applications have been made over the past 10-20 years to the Federal Government and others to provide funding to try and fix up Wellington Dam.
Local resident Bill Sloan said he agreed that something needed to be done about high salinity levels, but was concerned about the salt leeching back into the environment from where the water would be stored in a mining void.
“I have environmental concerns, they are taking about taking a bag of salt out of the weir every winter and storing it in a mining void, and unless you seal the void the water is going to leech into the ground water- that’s my concern,” he said.
“If they are going to store water in a mining void they need to treat it before they put it in there. Any idea to help the river is a good idea, but if you are going to spend a lot of money on it, you are better off doing it the right way first.”