Water Minister Dave Kelly today announced that the towns of Narrogin, Dumbleyung, Brookton and Williams would share over $270,000 in grants – joining nine regional communities that will benefit from the first round of the McGowan Government’s $3.2 million Community Water Supplies Partnership Program
The new two-year program expands on the previous Water Supply Program and is jointly funded by the State and Commonwealth Governments.
Many communities in the State’s Great Southern have experienced significantly reduced rainfall as a result of climate change.
The Community Water Supply Grant program, in partnership with local government, provides project funding to a maximum of $100,000, and is part of the McGowan Government’s ongoing commitment to help local governments and regional communities secure additional non-potable water sources and develop longer-term solutions for dealing with the impacts of climate change.
The Shire of Narrogin has received funding of $100,000 to capture storm water off Narrogin’s town site catchment area, which will harvest up to 147 million litres of water per year.
The project will divert stormwater flows from May Street in Narrogin (near Dellar Street) to a storm water harvesting catchment dam. The water will be used for irrigation of the Shire’s central sporting oval and other townscapes and recreational reserves.
The Shire of Williams has been funded to provide a permanent source of non-potable water for community use. The project includes connection to an existing bore that is estimated to deliver 50,000 litres per day of non-potable for emergency livestock drinking water.
Two tanks with a storage capacity of 250,000 litres will be installed and connected to the bore for the farming community to access.
The Shire of Brookton has received funding to reduce reliance on scheme water and derive as much benefit as possible from their licenced bore.
A new 200,000 litre water tank will be installed as well as motorised valves linked to sensors to remotely control water transfer.
Funding of $72,746 has been granted to the Shire of Dumbleyung for the cost of catchment and capture dam improvement works and tank installation.
So far, the McGowan Government has spent more than $3.7 million on direct water carting to central locations to support emergency livestock needs, $2.2 million on the development and upgrade of 75 strategic community water supplies, and $1.5 million towards partnerships with 23 local governments to upgrade community water supplies.
The program is supported by the National Water Grid Connections funding project.
As stated by Water Minister Dave Kelly:
“These are just four of the many projects funded by the McGowan Government as part of its commitment to boost strategic community water supplies across the State’s dryland agricultural regions, and ensure future water security for these communities.
“The Narrogin and wider community will benefit from this project with it supplementing the non-potable water supply from the Shire’s treated irrigation system.
“The Shire of Williams’ annual rainfall is trending down and water deficiency is an increasing problem in the community. This new source of non-potable water will provide an important emergency off-farm water supply during dry periods.
“Once completed, the Shire of Brookton will have a system that allows better control of water distribution from the Happy Valley non-potable bore.
“This is great news for Brookton, as their new tank will double the current bore water storage capacity.
“Having experienced very dry conditions over recent years, the ability to maximise water capture will boost non-potable water supplies in Dumbleyung.”
As stated by Agricultural Region MLC Shelley Payne:
“The Community Water Supplies Partnership Program is a great initiative from the McGowan Government that is helping rural communities harvest more of this precious resource and boost water security for dryland towns.
“The Narrogin project will provide additional water to the town and avoid the need to use expensive scheme water for irrigation.
“In Williams, the Shire has established an agreement with the Williams Golf Club, that owns the land on which the tanks will be built, to allow general community access to this water supply into the future.
“The extra storage for Brookton will ensure water is available at all times, specifically in situations of emergency such as bushfires and extended dry periods.
“The additional water supply for Dumbleyung will increase the stored volume of water to irrigate the sporting facilities and town spaces.”
