FAQ

The Myalup–Wellington Project was established to investigate water supply options to expand the Myalup Irrigated Agricultural Precinct (MIAP) and the Collie River Irrigation District (CRID) to enable growers to double their current production levels.

The project is looking to address major regional water problems by making better use of water that is already available.

In particular the project seeks to solve Wellington Dam’s water salinity issues, as this water is primarily used in irrigated agriculture. It is estimated that the total project will require an investment of up to $400 million.

It is a significant economic development project involving industry, the State Government and the Commonwealth, to substantially increase production capacity, create jobs and allow economic uplift in the region.

Water for Food is a State Government program to deliver a number of projects aiming to significantly increase irrigated agriculture across WA.

The program extends from the Kimberley region to the Great Southern and is central to WA’s strategic approach to lift productivity in agriculture while building export supply chains and encouraging capital investment and employment in regional industries.

Initially the program was established within the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. It is now being run through the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

The State Government selected Collie Water to investigate the salinity problems in Wellington Dam, the Collie River Irrigation District and the Myalup Irrigated Agriculture Precinct, following an Expression of Interest process in late 2015.

Collie Water brings together a range of technical, engineering, commercial and local stakeholders.

Collie Water is a WA-based water company established to manage an industry-led solution to reduce salinity in Wellington Dam, the major water resource in WA’s South West.

Collie Water is the trading name of the Myalup Wellington Water Corporation Pty Ltd.

Collie Water was established by local water solutions provider Aqua Ferre in response to the WA State Government’s Water for Food project seeking private sector solutions for the Wellington Dam salinity issues (the Myalup–Wellington Project). Collie Water was selected following a public Expression of Interest process run by the State Government.

Aqua Ferre was formed by Western Australian corporate advisory group Pendulum Capital and agri-supplier Regal Grange Group. Aqua Ferre has been working for a number of years on this project and in other water-related commercial activities.

Collie Water has brought together a wide variety of stakeholders to develop its solution, including government agencies, local authorities, engineering and environmental experts, potable water users, power companies, local miners and horticulturists, as well as the region’s irrigators through its association with Harvey Water.

An Expression of Interest process to address the salinity in Wellington Dam was held in 2015 by the Department of Water which resulted in a shortlist of proponents.

In 2016 Collie Water was announced as the preferred proponent and was asked to further develop its solution.

In June 2016 it was announced that the project had been awarded preliminary funding through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund (NWIDF) to undertake further feasibility studies.

In January 2017 the State (Coalition) Government announced that it would provide the project $37 million in funding, subject to a commitment from the Commonwealth Government.

In June 2017 the State (Labor) Government reconfirmed its support for the project and sought funding from the Commonwealth through the NWIDF. In August 2017 the Commonwealth indicated that whilst the project was not awarded funding in the first review round, the State would be invited to resubmit its funding application which would be subject to review by Infrastructure Australia.

In November 2017 following the review by Infrastructure Australia, the Myalup–Wellington Project was added to the Infrastructure Priority List as a Priority Project. (Priority Projects are potential infrastructure solutions for which a full business case has been completed and been positively assessed by the Infrastructure Australia Board. A Priority Project addresses a nationally-significant problem or opportunity.)

In March 2018 Infrastructure Australia published its latest Priority List. Of the twelve projects from around Australia classified as either High Priority Projects or Priority Projects, the Myalup–Wellington Project is the only Western Australian project included. The project is also the only water project from across Australia classified as a High Priority or Priority Project.

In April 2018 the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced that the Australian Government will provide the project $140 million in federal funding, and a concessional loan of up to $50 million, as part of a major jobs and infrastructure package for Western Australia. In a joint statement, the Prime Minister and the WA Premier, Mark McGowan, said the WA infrastructure package will deliver jobs and improve amenities, while also unlocking future regional opportunities across the state.

In October 2018 the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, together with the WA Minister for Agriculture and Food Alannah MacTiernan, the Federal Member for Forrest Nola Marino and Murray-Wellington MLA Robyn Clark attended the project launch and confirmed that the State and Federal Governments were working together to provide funding to the Myalup-Wellington project, led by Collie Water.

The project’s key objectives include:

Lower the salinity in Wellington Dam

• for the benefit of the region’s irrigators
• by diversion of high salt load in Collie River East branch (CREB) into mine voids
• then treatment of the saline water and mine dewatering for supply to Collie and the region

Provide a more efficient distribution system to the Collie River Irrigation District (CRID)

• by replacing the open-channel irrigation system with a modern pipe network
• to reduce water losses (of ~15GL pa) caused by leakage, seepage and evaporation

Expand agricultural production by delivery of additional water

• by providing the Myalup Irrigated Agriculture Precinct (MIAP) a new water source and replenish the aquifer to support existing usage
• by extending the pipe network to Myalup

Minimise pumping costs and charges

• by upgrading Burekup Weir to gain sufficient “head” or water pressure to drive water from Wellington Dam to the CRID and across to Myalup
• the use of gravity pressure instead of pumps reduces costs and emissions
• and provides more effective delivery on-farm

There are three primary issues with water supply locally which Collie Water’s proposed solution would address:

1. Declining reliability of the quantity and quality of potable water supply to Collie and the Great Southern towns (supplied from Harris River Dam in the Collie Shire).
2. The salinity effects on plants irrigated by Wellington Dam water in the Collie River Irrigation District.
3. Insufficient quantity and quality of irrigation water to support increased production of vegetables in the important Myalup Irrigated Agriculture Precinct.

A multi-pronged solution to the salinity problem of Wellington Dam (and the surrounding agricultural area is required).

The solution includes:

• Extraction of high salt flows before the salt reaches Wellington Dam
• Treatment of the extracted salty water, and excess water from mine dewatering, through a treatment plant
• Reforestation of areas where blue gum plantations are currently being harvested.

The project will bring a range of benefits and opportunities to Collie.

Drinking water – The treatment of water above Wellington Dam will provide a valuable source of potable (drinking) water for Collie (and the Great Southern Towns) by supplying Harris Dam, currently under pressure from a drying climate and dwindling supplies.

Jobs – Construction jobs will be generated by the building of the treatment plant, new weir and piping network and ongoing operational jobs from the maintenance of the associated infrastructure. The project will actively promote the use of local employees and businesses.

Security of supply – for existing local operations who are critically dependent on a continual supply of treated water, such as miners, power companies and other industry.

Opportunities – Over recent years much work has been undertaken by the Shire of Collie and local groups, together with a number of government agencies, to identify ways to diversify and expand Collie’s economy, and provide new jobs and growth.

A new source of reliable, quality water near Collie could bring opportunities for new industry and development, including:
• long-term tree planting programs
• additional forestry opportunities
• horticulture
• biomass
• intensive horticulture/greenhouse industry

Collie Water has already fielded enquiries from some of these potential new industries, such as covered or intensive horticulture, which would provide new job and growth opportunities for Collie. The State Government is now actively engaged in investigating potential opportunities.

Reforestation – Collie Water has been actively engaged with the State’s Forest Products Commission to reforest existing blue gum plantations in the catchment that are being harvested but not replaced. Already the project has seen 1.6 million trees planted in 2017. The planned ongoing reforestation secures the local area as a centre for the forestry industry, maintaining local jobs and maintains the health of the catchment and its waterways.

Agriculture – Ensuring an adequate water supply to farmers in the Collie River Irrigation District and Myalup Irrigated Agriculture Precinct will provide a more secure future for an important agricultural region in WA.

Growth – A flourishing irrigated farming sector will enable the potential for domestic and export markets to be realised, increase job opportunities, underpin land values and secure investment.

Wellington Dam (with a capacity of 185 GL) is the second largest reservoir in the state and reliably produces 85 GL of water annually. However, with the rising salinity of dam water over the past few decades, demand for this water now falls well short of the 85 GL allocation.

Salinity in the dam now exceeds 1,200mg/L TDS; whereas, agricultural users seek water at around 700mg/L TDS and more ideally 500mg/L TDS or better.

The water runoff from Wellington Dam’s catchment became increasingly saline largely due to historic land clearing practices in the middle 1900’s.

When trees are cleared from the land, their roots are no longer present to use groundwater through evapo-transpiration. The water table underneath rises to the surface and brings with it salts dissolved in the soil. The salts are deposited on the surface during the dry summers. With the first rains of autumn and winter a number of pulses of low volumes but very high salinity flow down the Collie River branches and ultimately finish in Wellington Dam.

In short, land clearing to the east of the dam has brought salts to the surface which now wash down the region’s river system ending in Wellington Dam.

Wellington Dam water is and will be used to irrigate important WA vegetable and crop growing areas, known as the Myalup Irrigation Agricultural Precinct (MIAP) and the Collie River Irrigation District (CRID). The salinity effects inhibit plant growth, affecting farm productivity and production costs.

Alarmingly, a number of farmers in the CRID (members of Harvey Water) have handed back their shares and water allocations because the water they receive from Wellington Dam is unsuitable and therefore too expensive. Unless the water quality of Wellington Dam is addressed, the trend of farmers handing back their water allocations will continue, ultimately resulting in collapse of the irrigation scheme.

The average salinity in the dam is about 1200 mg/L TDS which is marginal on scientific scales. However, the fixed open-channel water delivery system effectively means that for all practical purposes the water must be applied to the same paddocks each year causing a build up of salt in the plant root zone. The soil types don’t readily permit deep drainage so this increases build up of salt that, in turn, causes the salinity effects on plant growth.

The Waroona and Harvey Irrigation districts, which draw from other dams in the South West with water salinity of approximately 200mg/L TDS, have the same type of open-channel water delivery system but without the salinity problem. The yield penalty from the salinity for CRID irrigators is about a 30% decrease in pasture production.

The coastal Myalup region just north of Bunbury is also experiencing problems with water quality and increasing salinity levels, as well as a limited groundwater resource.

The Myalup Irrigated Agriculture Precinct is a key agricultural asset to Western Australia and the level of horticultural production there has increased significantly over recent five years with further significant demands from both domestic and international markets.

However, salinity in irrigation water poses a risk to the growers as the water is becoming unsuitable to use for irrigating vegetables.

Demand for food is growing, for both domestic and export markets. Growers in the MIAP region are keen to expand their industry but require significant additional water to do so. In addition, another 8–10 GL will be required to recharge the aquifers under the MIAP region.

Failing to do so will impact groundwater quality and as a result water licence allocations may need to be reassessed. This will unavoidably lead to a drop in production and potential closure of many operating farms – a catastrophic event for Western Australia both in terms of domestic supply and potential export.

If this problem is not addressed urgently, current agriculture activity and future growth potential is under threat. Access to enough water of suitable quality provides water security and is a key need for the region’s sustainable agricultural, employment and industrial growth.

The volume of salt extracted each year, and therefore the time taken to improve Wellington Dam, is dependent on a number of factors including rainfall, run-off and maintenance of environmental flow. The advice from technical experts is that a diversion of approx 15 GL of water a year for three years would reduce the salinity in Wellington Dam from about 1,200 mg/L TDS toward 700 mg/L TDS.

Water of this quality will enable farmers to get much better yields than they do now and allow them to grow higher value crops in the Collie River Irrigation District and the Myalup Irrigated Agriculture Precinct (when the network is extended there). It will encourage production growth and investment into farm production.

Whilst with average rainfall allowing sufficient extraction of salt flows would see improvement of the salinity within Wellington Dam in three years, salty water from the catchment will need to continue to be extracted to ensure the ongoing water quality of the CREB and Wellington Dam.

The piping of the CRID is likely to be progressively rolled out over 5 or more years subject to availability of government funding and irrigator demand. The financial model to support the project financing assumes a project life of at least 20 years. Indeed much of the infrastructure involved in this project, such as piping and weirs, will have useful lives of up to 50 years or more.

The project and the benefits to the community and the State are the therefore expected to last many decades.

The project will provide a number of environmental benefits:

• improves river health – by removing salt build-up from the Collie River East branch
• replanting of trees – by establishing a reforestation project in collaboration with the State’s Forest Products Commission, to ensure that plantations currently being harvested are replaced, and does not create additional salt flow on the catchment’s rivers
• reduces salinity in Wellington Dam
• eliminates the need for pumping – reducing emissions and power consumption – by raising Burekup weir. Using gravity as the energy source is clean, green and perpetual.
• reduces water losses – from evaporation, leakage and seepage from old, outdated open irrigation channels
• replenishes the depleted aquifer at Myalup

The CREB typically provides less than 20% of the inflow into Wellington Dam over recent years, but significantly it can account for as much as 50% or more of the salt load.

Assessments have indicated that ideally, subject to rainfall levels, a diversion of up to 10-13GL of water annually would allow Wellington Dam to return to salinity levels more suitable for agriculture over several years. Whilst this level is optimal, the quantity of water extracted is however subject to the level of rainfall and to maintaining minimum environmental flows. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has taken account of environmental flow requirements when determining licence allocations and conditions.

Collie Water is committed to collaboration with the Shire of Collie to improve river health.

The removal of salt from the Collie River East branch (CREB) is one step to improving the quality of water flows.

Environmental flow levels will be protected by the DWER licence terms. The licence to extract the high salinity water from the CREB considered all environmental and river flow matters and includes a continuous environmental flow requirement. That is, the river must have a minimum flow before any salt extraction can be considered.

The project proposes intermittently extracting only the most salty flows, only from the CREB, and only for periods each year coinciding with high flow and salinity levels. The aim is to remove salty flows, not harvest water.

The CREB is only one of four significant water inflows that come into the Collie River including the Bingham River and Harris River above the Collie town site and the Collie River South branch below the Collie town. These other rivers mitigate water flow from the CREB.

As a result of this project and the collaboration between Forest Products Commission (FPC) and Collie Water, FPC now intend reforesting the majority of blue gum land (currently being removed) in the Collie River South branch (CRSB) region to manage salt inflow. Work has already commenced on this project, with 1.6 million trees planted in 2017. Ongoing work will be undertaken to thin and manage plantations to maximise rainfall run-off into the CREB and CRSB.

In parallel with the extraction of the high salt flows of the CREB, it is equally important that the level of forest cover in other parts of the catchment is maintained. In particular, it has been identified that blue gum plantations in the vicinity of the Collie River South branch are currently being harvested without the intention to replant. Consequently, Collie Water has been working with the Forest Products Commission (FPC) to target the planting of pine trees as replacement forest in the region. FPC commenced planting the first of the cleared sites to pines in mid-2017.

The reforestation is intended to keep the groundwater levels down and prevent them from rising to the surface and bringing salt that would wash into Wellington Dam; thereby, counteracting the benefits obtained by the extraction of salt above the dam. Salt extraction would be unnecessary were the inflowing water not saline.

The salty water extracted from the river will be stored in a disused mine void. (The hydro-geology of the void has been assessed to confirm its suitability.)

The void is capable of holding approximately three years of diverted water. Therefore, as the quantity of water in the void grows, there ultimately becomes a need to “deal with it”. Past studies have considered, among other things, piping the salty water to the ocean (sea water is considerably higher salinity than the extracted river water). However, these proposals have proved to be uneconomic when assessed.

Collie Water’s solution is to treat or desalinate the extracted salty water, as well as excess mine dewatering water, to a level that would be suitable to local water users including Water Corporation, power companies, mining companies, intensive horticulture and other industrial users. By producing water at a quality suitable for these local users, the water can be sold at a commercial price which in turn allows the total project to become viable.

It is this bringing together of a technically sound engineering solution based on years of research and trials, with a commercially sound financial outcome, that has allowed the Collie Water solution to be developed.

The primary aim of the project is to lower salinity in Wellington Dam, the biggest reservoir in the South West. The water in the dam, whilst intended for agricultural use, has become increasingly unsuitable due to high salinity and as a result the dam is significantly under-utilised. The Binningup desalination plant does not address the high salinity in Wellington Dam.

Additionally, desalination is an expensive process to produce potable water. No agricultural user could meet the high cost of this treated water, nor do farmers need water at a potable standard. The high costs are further exacerbated when seawater is used, given that seawater has a very high salt content (~35,000 ppm TDS compared to the salty river water of <4,000 ppm TDS).

In any event, the Binningup plant is already at full capacity meeting Perth’s drinking water requirements.

By far the most efficient way to lower the salinity in Wellington Dam is to remove salt before it enters Wellington Dam. The extraction of a small amount of the saltiest flows not only lowers the salinity in the dam to levels that support irrigators, but also improves river water quality. It also means that the water treatment plant at Collie can be scaled to only treat around 10% of the dam’s 185GL capacity.

The ideal location of the treatment plant is near to the source of the water to be treated (ie the CREB and mine voids), close to power stations (for electricity supply) and relatively near Water Corporation’s Harris Dam (where the majority of treated water will be supplied to). Pumping water from the mine void to the Binningup desalination plant (and back) would not be economically viable.

Desalination is an expensive process to produce potable water. No irrigator or agricultural user could afford the high cost of this treated water, nor do farmers need water at a potable standard.

The high costs are further exacerbated when seawater is used (as is the case at the Binningup plant), given that seawater has a very high salt content (~35,000 mg/L TDS compared to the salty river water of <4,000 mg/L TDS).

The best outcome for the region is for the saline water in Wellington Dam to be improved so that it can be used in irrigation and agriculture, which is the Government’s stated use for the dam’s water. The solution proposed, to extract the saltiest flows before they reach Wellington Dam, is the most efficient and cost-effective solution.

Importantly, all of the water produced by the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant is required to meet the growing needs of Perth and now supplies nearly half of Perth’s potable water.

With WA’s drying climate and increasing population, there is no likelihood of any surplus production from the Binningup plant being available for irrigators.

The State Government, through the Water Corporation, has a goal for 2030 to develop 70–100 billion litres of new water sources, including desalination, groundwater replenishment and securing groundwater sources almost all for drinking water purposes.

Treating water in Wellington Dam is treating the symptom not the source and it does nothing to improve the health of the river system carrying highly saline water.

Additionally, a desalination plant at the dam would need to be many times larger than the proposed plant (as the dam holds 185 GL of water, with entitlements for 85 GL pa, compared to the proposed treatment plant producing 20 GL pa). Such a plant would also need to address how to dispose of the large quantity of brine it produced from the desalination operation.

Desalination is an expensive process to produce potable water. No agricultural user could meet the high cost of this treated water, nor do farmers need water at a potable standard. As Wellington Dam water is considered unsuitable as a drinking water source and accordingly has been de-proclaimed, it cannot be supplied into the drinking water network. Even where water was treated to a lower standard for irrigators, the costs to farmers would still be prohibitive. The proposal for a desalination plant near the dam to treat dam water is not economically viable.

Conversely, the site for the proposed treatment plant is ideally situated in an existing industrial area, adjacent to power stations, near to mine voids, and close to the existing brine ocean outfall pipeline.

Yes. The project has gone through several review stages by the State Government and the Government’s advisors including the commissioning of independent cost benefit analysis. The process has been overseen by a Ministerial Steering Group. The Steering Group was established by the State Government with a broad role overseeing all project initiatives for the Myalup–Wellington Water for Food program. The Steering Group established the Wellington Dam Technical Advisory Group to provide technical support and operational advice to the Steering Group; assess responses to the EOI process; and make recommendations to the Steering Group.

In 2017 as part of the State’s submission to the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund (NWIDF) seeking Commonwealth funding, the State was required to submit Collie Water’s proposal to Infrastructure Australia (IA) for review. IA is an independent statutory body with a mandate to prioritise and progress nationally significant infrastructure. IA provides independent research and advice to all levels of government.

Following that review, IA added the Myalup–Wellington Project to the Infrastructure Priority List as a Priority Project, on the basis that the project will provide economic benefit because of its potential to develop industry and agriculture in the South West region of Western Australia. Priority Projects are potential infrastructure solutions for which a full business case has been completed and been positively assessed by the IA Board. A Priority Project addresses a nationally-significant problem or opportunity. The Myalup–Wellington Project is the only water project listed by IA as a Priority Project.

IA reported that it had undertaken sensitivity analysis to determine the robustness of the project under different scenarios. As a result, IA is confident that the project would have net benefits to the Australian economy.

No. The Collie Water project will have no bearing on the price charged for water supplied to residents.

Potable water for Collie and the Great Southern region is provided and priced by the Water Corporation, and Water Corporation will continue to set its prices to consumers. (Water Corporation’s pricing structure is overseen by the State’s Economic Regulation Authority (ERA).)

The local community will benefit as a result of the increased security of water supply in the region.

Water for the CRID and MIAP is not of drinking quality and only suitable for irrigation or other non-potable uses such as industry and urban open space.

Harvey Water, including the CRID irrigators, will contribute toward the capital cost of the project. Harvey Water will continue managing the delivery of water to irrigators throughout the CRID, and will manage pricing schedules as currently.

Negotiations are progressing with MIAP irrigators as to the most efficient means of managing existing water usage and in providing higher quality, additional water to meet their requirements.

The project has been waiting on confirmation of funding support from the Commonwealth Government for some time. Without details of the level of Commonwealth support, some aspects of the project have not been able to be progressed. This has limited Collie Water’s ability to finalise arrangements with some stakeholders and confirm to interested parties the exact shape and timing of elements of the project.

Confirmation that the Commonwealth is prepared to make funding available for the project, following the review of the project’s business plan by Infrastructure Australia, is a significant milestone and means the project has passed a major checkpoint along the path toward improving the salinity situation in Wellington Dam. However, it does not mean funds are immediately available. What it does mean is that the project has a “green light” to move on to the next phase of the project’s development with a higher degree of certainty. This phase will involve community consultations, completing regulatory approvals and completing commercial financing arrangements.

In relation to community consultations, whilst some meetings have been held in the past, these have been limited as feasibility work was ongoing and funding levels uncertain. Following the funding commitment and as the project takes shape, as well as being able to provide more information to local groups the community consultations will enable Collie Water and the government to receive additional input from stakeholders. A number of public information sessions were held in Collie in 2018 and more will be held in 2019. In the meantime the project will continue to consult with Council representatives and stakeholder groups.

The project has now undertaken heritage assessments including ethnographic and archaeological surveys and consultations with local leaders and SWALSC representatives to consider the project and impacts on traditional culture. Collie Water is committed to ongoing consultation.

Over coming months, Collie Water will look to finalise remaining aspects of project planning, complete environmental approvals for above the dam works, and begin the process of calling for tenders for some elements of work. As this phase proceeds, the project will be able to answer more of the questions that the local community and stakeholders raise.