The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is suffering a new water shortage issue.

The city faces water scarcity as it lies in the Goldfields region, a vast inland area with desert-like conditions in Western Australia. The historic mining city relies on the 566km Golden Pipeline for its water supply.

With a growing population and having agreed to sell 1.7 billion litres of water per year to rare earth company Lynas, the city’s water problems have compounded.

In response the city aims to build greater water resilience through its Water Bank Project.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder mayor Glenn Wilson said the Water Bank Project would boost the city’s water supply.

He said: “The Water Bank Project directly addresses this challenge by increasing the city’s capacity to harvest, store, treat and reuse stormwater and treated wastewater as a fit-for-purpose non-potable water supply.”

Non-potable water supply means water unfit for drinking.
     
The project is being carried out in three phases. The first stage has recently concluded.

Mr Wilson said the first phase included significant upgrades to the South Boulder Wastewater Treatment Plant. It also saw installations of new pipelines and pump facilities, and further enhancements to the Old Boulder Lagoons Pump Station.

Future stages involve the construction of a new dam and a possible pilot desalination processing plant.

In February, WA Labor promised $5 million to fund the city’s Water Bank Project in the lead up to the state election that was held in early March.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder deputy mayor Kirsty Dellar said funding had not yet been received.

“The time frame for the funding is also unavailable,” she said.

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s Water Bank Project currently relies on surface water storage, such as dams and reservoirs. However, CSIRO experts are suggesting that the City explores underground storage, also called Managed Aquifer Recharge to develop greater water security in the future.

CSIRO Water Security Research Program principal research scientist Declan Page said MAR is the purposeful recharge of water into an aquifer for subsequent recovery for beneficial use. 

“MAR provides a way to maximise the use of available water resources by providing additional storage opportunities underground,” Dr Page said.  

When MAR is coupled with water recycling, it increases the use of urban stormwater and treated wastewater. This reduces reliance on traditional water resources, such as surface water from dams.

Despite MAR’s utility, its uptake is relatively low.

According to a 2022 CSIRO report, the amount of water intentionally recharged in Australia is about 410 million cubic metres per year. This means only 8.3 per cent of Australia’s yearly groundwater extraction is replenished through MAR.

MAR’s uptake also differs by region.

Dr Page said uptake in regional areas, such as the Murray-Darling Basin, had been much slower relative to urban areas.

“Part of the problem here is that the policy in many states of Australia doesn’t support MAR in these regions where there’s already a well-developed water entitlement and allocation framework,” he said.