WATER DEFICIENCY DECLARATIONS
576. Hon COLIN TINCKNELL to the minister representing the
Minister for Water:
(a) Can the
minister provide me with a list of all the towns and areas in Western Australia
that are currently declared water deficient?
(b) Have any areas or towns had
their water deficient status removed during this term of government?
(c) When was each area and town
declared water deficient?
(d) How much water is currently
being transported to each of these areas and towns and how often?
(e) What is the cost of
transporting water to each area and town?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the
question.
(a) Water
deficiency declarations are proclaimed for farm water for stock; they are not
for town supply. The list of current declarations is: the Mt Short area of the
Shire of Ravensthorpe; the Mallee Hill area of the Shire of Lake Grace; the
Hollands Rock area of the Shire of Kent; the Ardler Road area of the Shire of
Lake Grace; the northern area of the Shire of Jerramungup; the Grass Patch area
of the Shire of Esperance; Jerramungup east
and Ravensthorpe west; the Kukerin area of the Shire of Dumbleyung; the
Hamilton's Dam area of the Shire of Kent; the Salmon Gums area
of the Shire of Esperance; and the Gairdner area of the Shire of Jerramungup.
(b) No.
(c) See the response to (a).
(d) The volume of
water and frequency of carting varies depending on weekly volumes required and
the size of the water carting truck. Currently, approximately 100 individual
loads of water are being transported each week to service the water deficiency
declared areas.
The average water volumes carted to
each site since January are listed in a document. I seek leave to incorporate
the list of average monthly water volumes into Hansard.
Leave granted.
The following material was
incorporated —
The
average monthly water volumes carted to each site per month since January 2020
are as follows:
1. the Mount Short area of the Shire of Ravensthorpe —
151 kl/month
2. the Mallee Hill area of the Shire of Lake Grace —
739 kl/month
3. the Hollands Rock area of the Shire of Kent —
943 kl/month
4. the Ardler Road area of the Shire of Lake Grace —
2008 kl/month
5. the northern area of the Shire of Jerramungup —
3079 kl/month
6. the Grass Patch area of the Shire of Esperance —
2209 kl/month
7. Jerramungup (east) and Ravensthorpe (west) —
1263 kl/month
8. the Kukerin area of the Shire of Dumbleyung —
1809 kl/month
9. the Hamilton's dam area of the Shire of Kent
— 763 kl/month
10. the Salmon Gums area of the Shire of Esperance —
1128 kl/month
11. the Gairdner area of the Shire of Jerramungup —
carting commences 12 June 2020.
(e) Costs vary
depending on shifts in farmer livestock water carting needs, and water haulage
distances. The total cost paid by the Department of Water and Environmental
Regulation of transporting water to service all water deficiency declared areas
was $2.8 million as at the end of May 2020.