As competition grows for limited groundwater in rural Western Australia, experts and community leaders say the state’s water management rules need to be tightened.
The concerns come amid a spike in interest for land in parts of WA’s Wheatbelt including mining, battery, wind, and solar developers all looking to develop land and extract water from the region.
It is a significant shift for communities like Moora, 166 kilometres north of Perth, where the dominant land use has been cereal production and horticulture.
Groundwater extraction sustains primary industries across the state, but competition for it is increasing. (ABC Rural: Jo Prendergast)
Farmer and Moora Shire president Tracy Lefroy said she welcomed the new investment.
But she did not know if there was enough groundwater to supply domestic needs, ongoing food production, and prospective new projects.
“That’s the scary part — we don’t know exactly how much water is required,” she said.
“Because [with] the renewable energy transition, plus food production, plus mining, if all of those projects go ahead it’s going to be a mammoth drain on our water resources.”
Ms Lefroy said a comprehensive, Wheatbelt-specific water strategy was needed that considered all water needs but prioritised sustainability.
“We are facing a drying climate … you take that into account plus increasing demand, it’s really important that we make strategic use of our water, especially around food production,” she said.
“We need to adopt a long-term perspective that considers the highest and best uses of water. Are we using potable water for non-potable needs?”
She said exploring options such as miners using lower-grade water, desalination, and water treatment was essential.
Usage steadily growing
A look at licensed operators within 30km of the Moora townsite highlights the challenges Ms Lefroy’s community faces.
Several large licences have already been granted to citrus producers Moora Citrus and Agrifresh, which have groundwater licences for approximately 2.5 gigalitres each annually.
The state’s biggest citrus growers have established operations in the Midlands region. (ABC Rural: Jo Prendergast)
Pork producer Westpork is licensed to take 889,000 kilolitres and Andrew Forrest’s Koojan Downs feedlot is licensed to take 1.8 gigalitres of water each year.
One gigalitre of water fills approximately 500 Olympic swimming pools.
The licences allow companies to draw water each year from various sub-areas of the Leederville–Parmelia aquifer in northern Perth.
Along with green energy developers, miners such as copper hopeful Caravel Minerals are looking to move into the central Midlands region, but would require significantly more water.
Caravel has secured the right to buy all shares in Dalmeny Water, which has groundwater licenses for approximately 1.5 gigalitres of water on farmland near Gillingarra, extracted from the Perth surficial aquifer.
Land at Moora has traditionally been used to grow grain. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Jo Prendergast)
Dalmeny has further applications for 13.5 gigalitres of water, with Caravel seeking an additional 3 gigalitres.
The company says these are from deeper sources, including the Leederville aquifer in an area where the water is salty.
Caravel is planning to mine a 583.4-million-tonne copper ore reserve east of Yerecoin, 60km from Gillingarra, which would require 18 gigalitres of groundwater each year.
Miner pitches environmental benefit
Caravel managing director Don Hyma said the plan to extract water at Gillingarra would benefit the local environment as it would lower the water table and stave off salinity.
“Fortunately our process plant doesn’t require fresh water. In fact, the process is enhanced by the use of saline water,” Mr Hyma said.
“There’s a lot of surface salinity. If one drives up and around the Wongan Hills area, you can see that at surface.
“By drawing the aquifer back down we have the opportunity to draw those salts back down into the soil profile again.”
Groundwater is licensed on a first-in, first-served basis. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis)
The company said it was unlikely the project would use the existing licences for 1.5 gigalitres of surficial aquifer water.
Large bores will be drilled 100 to 200 metres to access salty water.
“Importantly that water is not useful for agricultural purposes, so we’re not in conflict, so to speak, with the farmers,” Mr Hyma said.
“It’s a really unique opportunity where the process plant is able to secure the supply of water it needs but, at the same time, the project having a positive impact on the environment.”
How is groundwater allocated?
Western Australia is divided into proclaimed and unproclaimed regions of groundwater, with most of the Wheatbelt unproclaimed.
Western Australia’s proclaimed and unproclaimed groundwater areas. (Supplied: Department of Water and Environmental Regulation)
Water use is regulated in proclaimed regions through licensing, which includes major towns and settlements.
But usage in unproclaimed areas is much less restrictive.
Moora, in the Gingin groundwater region, sits on the boundary between proclaimed and unproclaimed areas.
The uncertainty resulted in situations like Coca Cola Amatil withdrawing millions of litres of groundwater from their holdings in the Perth Hills for more than a decade.
University of Western Australia law professor Alex Gardner believed the state’s water management approach failed to protect aquifers from overuse.
“I think the community has been lulled into a belief that it’s not a scarce resource,” Professor Gardner said.
“The problem we have is we are not dealing with the cumulative impacts [of groundwater extraction], especially in the face of drying climate.”
Competition for water is intensifying as new and existing industries compete. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis)
A resources and environment law specialist, Professor Gardner believed the entire state should be proclaimed and that WA should join the National Water Initiative, providing a uniform standard for licensing.
He said this would create a flexible system, allowing for annual water trading and annual changes to water licence allocations during years of poor recharge — something he said was not possible with the current system.
“There are some hard political choices to make because water law reform in WA more than likely means reducing licence entitlements in many areas, particularly the South West,” he said.
Minister for Water Simone McGurk declined to speak on water licensing issues but a state government spokesperson said the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation investigates, measures, and quantifies the state’s groundwater resources.
“The State Groundwater Investigations Program undertakes targeted groundwater investigations to help us to manage the state’s groundwater resources and to ensure government and industry have timely and accurate knowledge of water resources suitable for drinking, agriculture, horticulture, mining, and industry.”
