Water scarcity, ageing infrastructure and growing demand are placing increasing pressure on water security across WA’s Goldfields region, prompting renewed calls for fit-for-purpose supply solutions and collaborative long-term planning.
At AWA’s Connected by Water in Perth in February, the Goldfields-Esperance Development Commission (GEDC) brought regional water security into focus, hosting a panel session exploring fit-for-purpose water supply opportunities for the region.
As a statutory authority reporting to the WA Minister for Regional Development, GEDC is tasked with supporting the economic and social development of one of the state’s largest and most diverse regions.
Spanning more than a third of the state, the region faces varied water security challenges driven by its climate, industries and geography, making long-term planning and collaboration increasingly important.
The workshop discussion at Connected brought together government, industry and local stakeholders to examine opportunities around wastewater reuse, groundwater optimisation, investment attraction and collaborative water planning.
The panel was inspired by an AWA regional tour to Kalgoorlie, where discussions around water scarcity and investment opportunities highlighted the need for a dedicated forum focused on regional water issues. Connected by Water provided an opportunity to bring those conversations together and explore practical pathways forward for the Goldfields.
GEDC’s involvement in the discussion was also underpinned by its work producing the Goldfields-Esperance Regional Drought Resilience Plan, which was developed through extensive consultation across the region over the past 18 months. The process identified climate change and long-term water security as some of the most significant challenges facing the Goldfields, helping shape the themes explored during the panel session.
GEDC Chief Executive Officer Kris Starcevich said the key take-away from the workshop is that, while availability issues are well understood, everyone is trying to solve their problem individually rather than coming together to think on a larger scale.
“We need to roll up our thinking and consider water security and water supply at a regional scale,” he said.
“Everybody’s uses are unique, so everyone has a different idea of what fit-for-purpose water looks like for them. Many users do not need large levels of potable water. They just need water quality that suits their operations.
“We have had some companies tell us to simply pump seawater to them and they will deal with treatment onsite themselves. That shows the issue is really about securing supply rather than needing potable water.
“Government obviously has a responsibility around servicing the region and water supply, but we also need to ask whether we are using water as efficiently as possible. Overriding all of this is the need for collaboration across the mining sector, government, infrastructure providers and potentially private investment as well.”
When it comes to treating water for various operations and industries across the region, the technology already exists, and water users are more than willing to implement their own solutions. Starcevich said the real hurdle is volume.
“Everybody is doing what they can to make the most of what is available, but we still have a volume issue. If all we have access to is hypersaline groundwater and whatever can be delivered through the Goldfields pipeline, then there are clear limitations,” he said.
“That is where reuse and recycling opportunities become important. The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has done a lot of work and continues investing in its Water Bank infrastructure to maximise water capture and reuse across the region.
“If we could get more water at a suitable quality into the region, many end users would solve the treatment problem themselves. They would invest in whatever technology they needed onsite. The technical side will continue improving through efficiency, recycling and reuse, but ultimately this is still a volume problem.”
Aside from the issue of access, Starcevich said another key challenge is pricing.
“Whatever future solution is developed still needs to be commercially viable and cost-effective. That is another area where more work is needed because if the economics do not stack up, the problem will not be solved,” he said.
There has already been more than $500 million announced for investment into the Goldfields pipeline and associated infrastructure, Starcevich said, representing significant reinvestment into existing infrastructure, including reservoirs and the historic pipeline itself.
“There is definitely a need to continue investing in the pipeline, although our Regional Drought Resilience Plan highlights vulnerabilities associated with relying on a single source and pathway into the region,” he said.
“That leads into looking more closely at local groundwater and wastewater opportunities, although those are probably limited, as well.”
Starcevich said the workshop discussions at Connected also revisited several larger-scale options that have been explored previously.
"These include pipeline alternatives, such as desalination from Esperance and piping water into the Goldfields, as well as concepts utilising large groundwater resources in remote areas,” he said.
“None of these ideas are new, but they all involve extremely large capital investment because of the distances involved. That said, no option should be off the table.”
Another point raised in the Connected workshop was that there may be opportunities for private sector-led investment solutions that could potentially stack up commercially.
“There have already been conversations with industry and utilities following the workshop about what those opportunities might look like. Before any major decisions can be made, though, there needs to be significant feasibility work and evidence to support them,” Starcevich said.
The next important step is proving long-term demand in a much more detailed way, Starcevich said, including a better understanding of what local demand looks like over time and what those uses actually are.
“Part of our role at GEDC helping industry prove that demand is real and sustained over time. People often look at mining and assume it is a boom-and-bust industry, which can make long-term infrastructure investment seem risky,” he said.
“But if you look across decades, there is always mining activity happening in the region. We also have a diverse mix of commodities, not just gold or nickel, and those industries often offset one another at different times.
“Taking a longer-term view of the region’s economic opportunities, combined with stronger demand data, would help build a stronger case for future investment.”
Further to building a case for investment, Starcevich said community awareness and water literacy, as well as enabling and deepening First Peoples’ participation, will also be key enablers.
“People in the Goldfields-Esperance region understand that water is an incredibly important and limited resource.,” he said.
“There is definitely heightened sensitivity around water availability in the region and there is also a broader education challenge. There is an opportunity to improve water literacy and help communities better understand the wider water landscape.
“First Peoples participation is another major opportunity that needs to be part of future solutions. Any significant infrastructure project across the Goldfields would involve multiple native title holders and traditional owner groups.
“There is strong potential for First Peoples groups to participate not just through land access arrangements, but also as genuine partners in future investments and projects.”
Starcevich said the next phase of building resilient, sustainable water strategy for the region is really all about collaboration and coordination.
“We need the right state and federal government agencies in the room alongside industry, utilities and infrastructure providers.
“The missing piece is proving long-term demand and properly understanding what future usage looks like. Once that demand is established and the right partners are engaged, the next question becomes who pays and who benefits from future solutions.
“There are still several steps to go, but there is a clear role for bringing the right people together to move these discussions forward.”
Take a look at the Goldfields-Esperance Regional Drought Resilience Plan here.