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Decade-old plans for a desalination plant will be dusted off as a new working group investigates future water security in Western Australia's mineral-rich Goldfields-Esperance region.
Key points:
- A new working group will be established to consider options for future water security in the Goldfields-Esperance region
- The northern Goldfields is facing a situation where traditional water supplies, such as underground aquifers, are running dry
- A desalination plant at Esperance has long been pushed as a long-term option for the region's future water supply
The Goldfields Voluntary Regional Organisation of Councils [GVROC], representing nine local governments in the region, will join the state government and Water Corporation on the working group.
It comes as the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, which famously receives its drinking water from the 120-year-old Goldfields Pipeline, is set to enter a fifth month of water restrictions in June.
Water is considered as precious as gold in the nation's mining heartland.
Concerns have also been raised about the sustainability of underground aquifers, which has forced the Water Corporation to truck water 132 kilometres from Kalgoorlie-Boulder to the northern Goldfields town of Menzies for the past decade.
"A number of communities have got different issues and different levels of infrastructure, so the solutions might look different across the region," Water Minister Simone McGurk said.
"We're interested in doing some evidence-based work, planning together and looking at some short, medium and long-term solutions.
"It might include big infrastructure in the future, who knows? But it might also include present opportunities for water efficiency and being waterwise, harvesting water and recycling water."
Esperance part of plan
It comes as the WA government builds its third desalination plant in Perth at a cost of about $1.4 billion.
Proposals for a desalination plant at Esperance were previously raised during the Gallop, Carpenter and Barnett governments as a potential solution to long-term water shortages.
Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Future industries is also investigating the potential for an Esperance desalination plant as part of a broader green hydrogen project.
Liberal MLC Neil Thomson said he has been told the mining industry is being charged up to $30 a kilolitre for water in the Goldfields, up from about $15 a kilolitre a few years ago.
"The cost of desalinating water is between $2 and $3 a kilolitre, that's the standard industry cost ... and it's a similar cost to pipe it so there has to be a business case," he said.
"The idea of building a pipeline from Esperance to Kalgoorlie ... it's been a long time since we've assessed it properly."
Shire of Esperance president Ian Mickel said he believed the port town is the ideal location for a desalination plant, adding it would likely require a mix of private and government investment.
"Everyone needs to see a more reliable source, right from the ocean on the south, right through to the top end of the northern Goldfields," the farmer said.
"It's not raining anymore ... we can't just rely on what comes from the sky."
Northern Goldfields a priority
While Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor John Bowler has previously claimed residents are paying for "Australia's most expensive water" due to the 566km-long Golden Pipeline, people living in the northern Goldfields rely on underground sources for their drinking water.
A reverse osmosis plant processes Leonora's drinking water, which is also being trucked into the neighbouring Shire of Laverton to supply mine sites.
Shire of Leonora president Peter Craig said he had received reports about a historic water supply, known as Doyle's Well, drying up.
"The reports coming back from rangers are that the trees in the area are dying," Mr Craig said.
"There are multiple users of water, different mining companies, and while we don't have the scientific evidence, the indicators are that the water tables are dropping."
When Laverton miner Dacian Gold placed its Mt Morgans operations on care and maintenance in April, the Perth-based company told the ASX the production hiatus would give it valuable time to improve its "longer-term water security".
Dacian Gold says it is targeting at least "five years line of sight on required volumes of processing water" before considering a restart.
Shire of Laverton president Pat Hill says the closure reflects long-term demand from the mining industry.
"For every tonne of dirt treated, you're going to need a tonne of water," he said.
"We've got to look at alternatives; it's critical because our aquifers are going dry.
"We need a 30, 40, 50-year program for water in the northern Goldfields ... it's as valuable as gold, and we need to prepare ourselves for the demand we're going to get in future years."