❓ Mr. Logan questions the Minister's commitment to the Collie River revitalisation plan, including a desalination plant. The Minister responds by outlining challenges with the existing pilot project and assures that the government is working on a comprehensive plan, with the Commonwealth's support.
AnsweredQoN 313Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COLLIE RIVER REVITALISATION PLAN
I draw the minister’s attention to his failure to date to proceed with the Collie River revitalisation plan, which includes the construction of a critically needed desalination plant. (1) Will the minister commit to proceeding with this vital program? (2) Can the minister guarantee that the full funding allocation from both the state and federal governments is still available for this project? (3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS
I draw the minister’s attention to his failure to date to proceed with the Collie River revitalisation plan, which includes the construction of a critically needed desalination plant. (1) Will the minister commit to proceeding with this vital program? (2) Can the minister guarantee that the full funding allocation from both the state and federal governments is still available for this project? (3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(1) Will the minister commit to proceeding with this vital program? (2) Can the minister guarantee that the full funding allocation from both the state and federal governments is still available for this project? (3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(2) Can the minister guarantee that the full funding allocation from both the state and federal governments is still available for this project? (3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(1) Will the minister commit to proceeding with this vital program? (2) Can the minister guarantee that the full funding allocation from both the state and federal governments is still available for this project? (3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(2) Can the minister guarantee that the full funding allocation from both the state and federal governments is still available for this project? (3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(3) If the minister has chosen not to proceed with this project, when will he tell the public, in particular, the residents of the south west and, most importantly, the industry players who hope to use this water? Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Dr G.G. JACOBS replied: I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
I thank the member for Cockburn for his question. (1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
(1)-(3) As the Minister for Water for the past six months, one thing that I acquired was the difficulty of a process that did not think ahead. The Eastern Creek Collie diversion, for members’ benefit, is to do with desalination, and the water in Wellington Dam is increasingly saline. We have this problem that not only involves the Collie catchment but also many other catchments in Western Australia. As the Minister for Water, the ever-increasing salinity of our catchments, and in this case, Wellington Dam, is a major challenge. There was a pilot project to divert the saline flush, the early flush of the upper Collie, away from the main stream that was running into Wellington Dam. Ms M.M. Quirk : What about the Minister for Planning? Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Dr G.G. JACOBS : If the member will just listen for a while, she might learn something because what she tends to do is run over it very quickly—go quickly over the surface—but does not actually understand. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
Dr G.G. JACOBS : It is important to understand that this pilot project was to divert that saline flush away from the main run-off into the Wellington Dam. However, all the water was put into an old coal void called the Chicken Creek coal void. This government and I, as minister, have the question: what do we do now? There has been a challenge in what we do from here. I will tell the member for Cockburn, if he will listen, that I have asked the Department of Water to prove up an expansion of that pilot project. There are two issues. What will we do with the water in the coal void because—this is very interesting—Premier Coal, which is just next door, wants to expand its operation. Therefore, we have a coal void next door to what Premier Coal wants to do that we must remove. Instead of simply saying, “Oh, we’ll just remove the water somehow and that will overcome the problem”, we need to go through a process to determine the best way to deal with that water. Is it to treat the water, push the saline into the ocean and then empty the void and allow some more water to go into the Western 5H project? The whole issue in the long term is to have a plan to desalinate that water and use fresh water for industry or put fresh water back into the Wellington Dam. The pilot study has shown a decrease in the salinity of Wellington Dam, which suggests there are some positive results from this process. In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
In answer to the other question, the commonwealth government is very happy and comfortable with our time line in getting the project right. We will not simply have a knee-jerk reaction that we have a coal void that is full of water and we have to get rid of it; we will work through the phases of the expansion of this project. The commonwealth is comfortable with the time lines that we have. I have asked the Department of Water to prove up a plan to do the best for not only Wellington Dam but also the dam users and the industries in the Collie basin.
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