Western Australia

Irrigation water service providers have been given until January 19, 2010, to submit formal proposals for the first stage of the Ord River Expansion project.

It is the first time the Western Australian Government has engaged in a competitive process to identify such a provider – a preferred proponent and a reserve preferred proponent will be selected by March 2010.

The selection of a water service provider will enable the operation and maintenance of $220 million worth of irrigation and supporting infrastructure to service more than 8,000 hectares of new farmland on the Weaber Plains in the East Kimberley.

The WA Water Department is expecting an efficient water supply to be created for 22 new farms with the aim of making the best use of the Lake Argyle water resource and limiting groundwater recharge.

The Weaber Plains development will be released in 2011 and include supporting infrastructure with off-farm water supply, drainage, flood protection and roads.

Once the government names the preferred and reserve preferred proponents, it will conduct negotiations with the preferred provider until about September 2010. Applicants can submit proposals here.

More than 20 companies, government agencies and indigenous organisations have submitted Expressions of Interest for pilot water projects and associated works in the Pilbara region.

They are bidding for initial WA Government funding of $2.5 million. The funding will be provided to test the feasibility of projects making the best use of water resources and contributing to economic diversification in the Pilbara. The projects are part of the government’s $300 million Royalties for Regions Pilbara Revitalisation Plan.

Qualified public and private organisations selected through the EOI will carry out feasibility projects or deliver pilot water projects with a view to further developing them as part of the Pilbara’s overall development vision.

The Department of Regional Development and Lands expects to announce the successful water projects by the end of January and the projects are scheduled to start in mid-2010.

A Mandurah-based compost producer has been awarded grant funding under the State Government’s Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme to develop a standard for the application and use of compost in roadside landscaping.

Custom Composts will receive $25,000 towards development costs. The grant will build on significant investment made in innovative demonstration projects on the Perth-Bunbury Highway for recycling a range of materials.

Using composted materials in roadside rehabilitation is common practice in other states, but it has not been used widely before in Western Australia. The grant funding will allow the development of updated standard procedures for adoption by state and local government authorities. This will open new opportunities to use material such as compost made from household organic waste.

Local governments have made substantial investments in the production of compost from household organic waste, but the development of markets for the product has not kept pace with increasing production.

The Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme is funded through the state’s levy on waste dumped at urban landfill sites and grants from the scheme are allocated by the Waste Authority. The scheme provides support and encouragement to business and industry, local government, community groups and individuals tackling priority waste issues.

A Geothermal Centre of Excellence established to improve the understanding of, and ability to harness, Western Australia’s geothermal fields has been officially opened in Perth.

Geothermal energy can be used for power generation, but at lower temperatures, it can be used directly for heating or cooling.

The centre is based at the University of Western Australia and involves the university, CSIRO, and Curtin University of Technology.

It is already developing Australia’s first commercial geothermal-powered heating and air conditioning units. Also on the drawing board is research into applications for existing desalination technologies to provide clean drinking water with little or no carbon emissions.

The WA Government has contributed $2.3 million to establish the centre.

The site of a proposed liquefied natural gas project in north west Western Australia has been determined after careful consideration of environmental, heritage and technical data.

The Browse LNG precinct will be established in an area just south of James Price Point.

The area has been chosen over another potential site north of the point because:
- deeper water near the coast will substantially reduce the cost of dredging and blasting required;
- impacts on seagrass and other marine habitats will be able to be better managed;
- the land is flatter than the alternative site in the north reducing the visual impact of the site from the ocean; and
- impacts on registered Aboriginal heritage sites can be managed.

WA Premier, Colin Barnett, says the State Government, the Kimberley Land Council representing traditional owners, and Woodside Energy Ltd have entered into a Heritage Protection Agreement for the LNG precinct.

Mr Barnett says the protection agreement establishes a process for identifying, protecting and managing Aboriginal sites within the area. It also allows the parties to continue developing a master plan for the layout of the precinct – a plan covering worker accommodation and a light industrial area to support LNG processes.

The Premier says the proposed design of the precinct will ensure its economic efficiency while reducing impacts on registered Aboriginal heritage sites and monsoonal vine thickets.

When operating at full capacity, with two LNG processors, the total land area of the precinct will be about 2,000 to 2,500 hectares – 0.2 per cent of the Dampier Peninsula.