State Govt to pump $543 million into Goldfields pipeline to double Kalgoorlie-Boulder's water storage capacity

West Australian

a day ago

A 'once-in-a-generation' cash injection of $543 million for the Goldfields pipeline will double the water storage capacity of the Binduli Reservoir that supplies Kalgoorlie-Boulder from 2027.
The State Government on Wednesday announced it had allocated the cash in next week's State Budget to 'fast-track' the first stage of critical long-term upgrades to the Goldfields and Agricultural Water Supply Scheme.
The expansion will ensure an extra 7.2 million litres of water each day flows down the heritage-listed 122-year-old pipeline from Mundaring Weir near Perth after the installation of 44.5km of 'looping pipe' — most of which would replace the original locking-bar pipe in the shires of Merredin, Westonia and Yilgarn.
The new sections will be installed primarily below ground alongside the 566km existing route, with work to start early next year and be complete in 2027.
Announcing the State Budget cash at Mt Charlotte Reservoir and Lookout in Kalgoorlie-Boulder — which is the pipeline's endpoint — Water Minister Don Punch said the expansion would be extremely important for the future economic and social growth of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Mr Punch said the project signalled the Cook Government's commitment to regional WA to ensure people had safe drinking water and water supply needs were future-proofed, particularly in a drying climate.
'Clearly, with the growth that's happening and the attractiveness of this region, we need to increase water supply, and that's what this Budget commitment is about,' he said.
'It increases the capacity for growth in the Goldfields and particularly in Kalgoorlie, and we want to make sure there is a secure future for this region.'
Member for Kalgoorlie Ali Kent said the expansion project was a once-in-a-generation commitment from the State Government.
'We all know what water is like, the scarcity of water when you live (600km) from Perth, so to have this security for our water system for the residents, for industry, for all future generations is just . . . magnificent,' she said.
Mr Punch said the pipeline expansion would not directly flow to mining operations such as Lynas Rare Earths' $800m processing facility or the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club, as both received their water supplies from recycled wastewater from the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
'This is a separate project from that (the city's wastewater supply) entirely but it does mean that more water is coming into the region and there will be a proportion that water that finds (its way) into the waste management system so there should be additional water capacity after 2027,' he said.
Water Corporation chief executive Pat Donovan said the pipeline's existing capacity was 75 million litres of water a day.
Mr Donovan said the expansion would increase capacity by about 10 per cent, and double the Binduli Reservoir's current capacity of 400 megalitres.