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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 999 asked in the Legislative Council on 11 October 2022 by Hon Dr Brad Pettitt

Question Directed to the: Minister for Regional Development representing the Minister for Water
Parliament: 41 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the Alumina Refinery Agreement Act 1961, an Act to approve and ratify an agreement entered into by the State with respect to the establishment of a refinery to produce alumina, and to provide for carrying the agreement into effect and for incidental and other purposes:
(a) what is the current agreement with regards to access to fresh water by Alcoa;
(b) how much fresh water is consumed by Alcoa per annum in:
(i) the mine sites operations;
(ii) processing of bauxite; and
(iii) refining of bauxite;
(c) what is/are the source/s of this water;
(d) is water taken from these sources under license;
(e) if yes to (d), please provide this license;
(f) does Alcoa pay for this water; and
(g) if yes to (f), how much?

Answered on 29 November 2022

(a) To be directed to the Minister for State Development.

(b)-(e) Alcoa of Australia Limited’s (Alcoa) access to groundwater and surface water in proclaimed areas is subject to licensing by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) under the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914

In addition, Water Corporation currently supplies 0.615912 gigalitres per annum of potable water to the Alcoa Kwinana (processing and refinery) site, however, supplies nil potable water to the Pinjarra or Wagerup sites.

DWER can advise of the overall amount of fresh water available to Alcoa per annum from ground or surface water sources under its licences only, but not the breakdown of water use for the mine site operations, processing of bauxite or refining operations across the various sites.  Alcoa’s licensed groundwater and surface water entitlements total approximately 31.6 gigalitres across its operations (refer to Table).  However, Alcoa generally does not abstract the full volume under each licence entitlement, as the annual quantities abstracted from groundwater and surface water sources is dependent on factors including seasonal and climatic variations. 

Alcoa also uses recycled water from various local wastewater treatment plants and non-potable water from Harvey Water Cooperative and water from onsite recovery (rainfall runoff, production water recycling and refinery sewerage system).

Alcoa’s current licence information is as follows:

Licence number

Locality

Water Resource Area / Resource

Licence Allocation (Gigalitres per annum)

GWL167867(7)

Pinjarra Refinery

GWR – Murray, Pinjarra, Perth – Cattamarra Coal Measures

2.5

GWL98936(9)

Pinjarra Refinery

GWR – Murray, Pinjarra, Perth – Cattamarra Coal Measures

4

GWL150586(6)

Pinjarra Refinery

GWR – Murray, Pinjarra, Perth – Superficial Swan

0.4

SWL98937(3)

Pinjarra Refinery

SWR – Murray River and Tributaries, Oakley, Oakley

3

SWL98939(3)

Pinjarra Refinery

SWR – Murray River and Tributaries, Barritt/Tate, Barritt/Tate

2

SWL98940(3)

Pinjarra Refinery

SWR – Murray River and Tributaries, Oakley, Oakley

4

GWL102669(3)

Wagerup Refinery

GWR – Murray, Waroona, Perth – Superficial Swan

0.55

GWL160881(3)

Wagerup Refinery

GWR – Murray, Waroona, Perth – Superficial Swan

0.1466

SWL97472(6)

Wagerup Refinery

SWR – Harvey, Yalup Brook, Yalup Brook

1.6

SWL99246(5)

Wagerup Refinery

SWR – Harvey, Yalup Brook, Yalup Brook

2.5

SWL151027(4)

Wagerup Refinery

SWR – Harvey, Harvey Main Drain, Harvey Main Drain

4.4

GWL159085(3)

Kwinana Refinery

GWR – Cockburn, Valley, Perth – Superficial Swan

5.404

SWL153635(3)

Huntly & Willowdale Mine Sites

SWR – Dandalup River System, South Dandalup, South Dandalup

0.03

SWL63409(4)

Huntly & Willowdale Mine Site

SWR – Dandalup River System, South Dandalup, South Dandalup

0.5

SWL61024(3)

Huntly & Willowdale Mine Site

SWR – Harvey, Samson Brook, Samson Brook

0.4

SWL83356(5)

Huntly & Willowdale Mine Site

SWR – Murray River and Tributaries, Marrinup Brook, Marrinup Brook

0.0

SWL68893(5)

Huntly & Willowdale Mine Site

SWR – Murray River and Tributaries, Marrinup Brook, Marrinup Brook

0.045

(f) and (g)

Alcoa is subject to water licensing application fees only, not for the amount of water it is entitled to or consume.  Water licensing fees can range from $172 to $8,929 and are based on an assessment level which is determined by the type of application, the volume of water being applied for and the allocation status of the water resource.