{"id":12398,"date":"2026-05-16T07:45:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12398\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T07:45:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:45:28","slug":"water-bank-project-designed-to-drought-proof-australias-biggest-outback-city-misses-out-in-federal-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12398\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Bank project designed to drought-proof Australia’s biggest outback city misses out in federal budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is called Water Bank and with an estimated total cost of $92 million it has the potential to break the bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this “shovel ready” project designed to drought-proof Australia’s biggest outback city remains in limbo after missing out on funding in this week’s federal budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Tuesday’s budget included more than $1.3 billion for the National Water Grid Fund, the Commonwealth has turned off the tap for Water Bank at this stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is Australia’s biggest outback city with a population of about 30,000 people. \u00a0 (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Water Minister Murray Watt told the ABC the budget was “financially responsible” and showed “spending restraint across all policy areas”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Water Bank will be considered in “future budget rounds”, the spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is Water Bank?<\/p>\n

Western Australia’s historic mining centre of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, about 600 kilometres east of Perth, is famous for the discovery of gold in 1893.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But water is almost as valuable as gold in a city home to 31,268 people, who rely on a 566km-long, 123-year-old pipeline<\/a> for their drinking water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only so much water can be pumped along the pipeline<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Goldfields water supply scheme, known as the Golden Pipeline, took five years to build during WA’s 1890s gold rush. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

For decades, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has irrigated public spaces with treated effluent. \u00a0<\/p>\n

That includes an 18-hole grass golf course, which soaks up about 3 megalitres a day in summer. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But after signing a multi-million-dollar deal to supply large quantities of recycled water<\/a> to a mining company, the city’s storage dams dried up in 2023, resulting in water restrictions for the local population.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

The Piccadilly Street Dam in 2023 ran dry for the first time in a decade. (ABC Goldfields-Esperance: Robert Koenig-Luck)<\/p>\n

It forced the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to come up with a long-term solution, dubbed Water Bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The project involves building new dams to harvest additional stormwater and growing supplies of recycled water stored in 27 reservoirs and tanks across Kalgoorlie-Boulder. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Three years of lobbying<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese first heard about the project in February 2023 at the peak of water restrictions when he met with then-mayor John Bowler. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Bowler, a former state MP who served eight years as mayor, raised water security, during the prime minister’s visit, as the single biggest issue facing the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“When I met Prime Minister Albanese \u2026 he gave me the indication that Kalgoorlie, at the end of the world’s longest water pipeline, would be at the forefront [for investment in water security],” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We never got a dollar, so I remain hopeful but maybe a bit sceptical.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Anthony Albanese visited Kalgoorlie’s Super Pit gold mine in February 2023.\u00a0 \u00a0 (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

Since that meeting, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has stepped up its lobbying, with current Mayor Glenn Wilson making at least seven trips to Canberra since his election in late 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, and Perth MP Patrick Gorman, said he had been well briefed on Water Bank. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“I have met with the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and I understand the needs and the challenges \u2026 they have done an excellent job of putting their case forward,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Glenn Wilson (left) and CEO Andrew Brien on a trip to parliament house in 2024. \u00a0 (Supplied: City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder)<\/p>\n

The city’s application was for $9.5 million from the National Water Grid Fund to progress stage one of Water Bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was boosted by the WA government’s pledge of $5 million towards stage one at last year’s state election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The 18-hole Kalgoorlie Golf Course is maintained with recycled water. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

Mr Wilson described the “crucial” project as “shovel ready”. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s about what we can do to capture more water, increase our efficiency and create revenue streams for the city at the same time,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is one of the biggest local government reusers of treated effluent water in Australia. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

Liberal MP for O’Connor Rick Wilson was “bitterly disappointed” by Water Bank’s omission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The budget papers show WA will receive $106 million over five years through the National Water Grid Fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fund has previously been tapped for $5 million towards a preliminary business case for a desalination plant<\/a> in WA’s Great Southern.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has also jointly funded an $11.7 million project to expand drinking water supplies at Halls Creek<\/a> in the Kimberley. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sewage flows into the South Boulder wastewater treatment plant, where it is processed and used to irrigate public spaces. \u00a0 (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

Former City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder councillor and Liberal staffer Nardia Turner said it ignored the region’s contribution to the national economy.<\/p>\n

“Incredibly disappointing, incredibly short-sighted \u2026 I just don’t know why a mining region which contributes so much to the economy continually gets pushed to the back [of the queue],” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Without water you can’t have progress for any industry.”<\/p>\n

\"Kalgoorlie-Boulder<\/p>\n

Glenn Wilson says he has travelled to Canberra at least seven times as part of lobbying efforts for Water Bank. \u00a0 (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

The onus now appears on the city to get on with the job of Water Bank, but will ratepayers be forced to bear the cost?<\/p>\n

“We will review the project,” Mr Wilson told the ABC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Andrew Brien (left) and director of engineer Lui Camporeale at the South Boulder wastewater treatment plant. \u00a0 (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

For now at least, the glass is half full, with heavy rainfalls in recent months filling dams to 100 per cent capacity to ensure Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s immediate water supply is secure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is called Water Bank and with an estimated total cost of $92 million it has the potential…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[483,22,21,13159,6427,13157,1366,13156,13155,13158,489,464,13160,13154,10063],"class_list":["post-12398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-city-of-kalgoorlie-boulder","tag-commonwealth","tag-drought-proof","tag-federal-government","tag-murray-watt","tag-national-water-grid-fund","tag-patrick-gorman","tag-prime-minister","tag-wa-news","tag-water","tag-water-bank","tag-water-supply"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}