South West Irrigation Initiative

Felicity BunnyWater for Food - Project Manager

20 October 2016

What is Water for Food?

• A $40 million program, part of the $350 million Seizing the Opportunity Agriculture initiative

• Eleven projects across the State

• Enable Western Australia's fresh food and animal protein production to increase its contribution to regional economies by at least 50 per cent by 2025 and twofold by 2050

Middle Gascoyne

Midlands

Myalup-Wellington

Southern Forests

La Grange

Mowanjum

Knowsley Fitzroy Valley

Bonaparte Plains

Perth

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Investing Where People Live

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• Population 176,000• Growth area south of Perth• 1.7% growth 2014 to 2015 (ABS)• Diverse land use - agriculture

& tourism

Myalup-Wellington: Water for Growth

• Investigate alternatives for additional water supplies to support expansion of the Myalup Irrigated Agricultural Precinct and the Collie River Irrigation District to enable farmers to increase current production levels

• Explore salinity treatment of water from Wellington Dam

Myalup –Wellington

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Wellington Dam

• One of the largest reservoirs in WA – 185GL

• Rising salinity o Not suitable for drinkingo Low quality for irrigated

agriculture (1,100ppm)• 2007 Australian Government-

funded salinity trial • December 2013 de-commissioned

as potable water source • Australian Government funding -

$1 million for feasibility study

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• Create 10-15GL of potable water• Create 1,500 permanent jobs• Freshen up Wellington Dam reservoir to 600ppm• Save 15GL lost through open channel irrigation• Replace open channels with gravity fed pipe delivery• Less than 3,000 ha of available 12,000 ha in CRID is fully utilised

Opportunity

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Collie Water: preferred proponent

• Myalup Wellington Water Corporation Pty Ltd, trading as Collie Water is a joint venture between Aqua Ferre and Harvey Water

• Selected by the State Government via an Expression of Interest process

• Provides an industry led commercial solution to dam water quality• New source of potable water to public water scheme

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Overview – the ‘Collie Water’ preferred solution

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Myalup -Wellington Steering Committee• Hon Colin Holt MLC,

(Chair) Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Water

• Hon Nola Marino MP, Federal Member for Forrest

• Harvey Water Cooperative• Vegetables WA• South West Development

Commission• Shire of Collie• Shire of Harvey• Shire of Dardanup• Bunbury Wellington

Economic Alliance• Australian Water

Association• Department of Water

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Minister for WaterHon Mia Davies MLA

Myalup-Wellington Steering Committee

Technical Advisory Group

Technical Advisory Group• National Centre of

Excellence in Desalination Australia

• CSIRO• Irrigation Australia• Department of Agriculture

and Food WA• Vegetables WA• South West Development

Commission • Department of Water • Forest Products

Commission• Water Corporation

Governance

Next Steps

• Australian Government funding• Establish processes, terms and funding agreements

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Southern Forests Irrigation Scheme(Manjimup, Pemberton)

• Explore the potential for an irrigation scheme in the Warren-Donnelly and Southern Blackwood regions

• Increased water availability will provide security, a stronger economy, increased investment and greater job opportunities

Southern Forests

Mowanjum

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Opportunity

• Manjimup-Pemberton is a significant horticultural production area -$127m 2010/11

• Water availability in horticultural areas is constrained• The region produces:

• 70% of Western Australia’s avocadoes• 50% of Western Australia’s apples• 85% of truffles in Southern Hemisphere• High proportion of potatoes, broccoli, fruit and nuts

• Growers need water security to underwrite investment

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Scheme Planning

• DoW and Tasmania Irrigation Pty Ltd undertaking scheme planning

• Planning based on demand indicated by LOIs• Feasibility of a network of small (≤2GL dams) appears limiting

– Only 4 sell LOIs - water yields and reliability– Cost and complexity of pipeline infrastructure– Access to power supplies, high pumping costs, land acquisition

issues

• Preliminary work on a larger central supply dam underway which seeks to address the above factors

Boundary

• Original project area south of Bridgetown to north of Pemberton

• Extensive boundary

• Aimed to ensure wide area canvassed for potential interest in scheme

Letters of Intent process

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• Opened January 2016• Extensive communications campaign• Invited expressions of interest from water buyers and sellers• Overwhelming response for buying water• 50% greater buy demand than anticipated

Buy

Total volume 11.9 GL

LOIs 72

Properties 111

Progress to Date

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Project launched by

Water Minister

(Apr 2015)

Tasmania Irrigation

Study Tour

(Jul 2015)

Marketing campaign

commenced

(Dec 2015)

Letter of Intent

process

(Jan - Mar 2016)

Engineering design/ business

case commenced

(May 2016)

InvestigateGovernance

/business case /Commercials

(Nov 2016)

Governance

• Who best to build, and operate the scheme • Decide on an appropriate governance arrangements

using existing irrigation schemes across Australia as a guide:– Assessed pros and cons– Company, Cooperative, Association etc– Consider WA legal and policy settings

• Once established, this entity will have key responsibilities for driving scheme forward

Potential Funding arrangements

• LOIs indicated $10M of private capital contribution• Government funding required for remainder• Possible funding avenues:

– State - Royalties for Regions– Federal Water Infrastructure Development Fund – 3rd party investors and growers

• Business cases required to apply for funding• There is no guarantee the scheme will proceed until

funding is confirmed

Next Steps• Former Grower legal entity (eg Cooperative)

• Australian Government and State government funding

• Feasibility and investigate required approvals

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