❓ Minister updates the house on the progress of the Carnarvon flood mitigation project, a $60 million initiative funded by royalties for regions and the Commonwealth, designed to protect horticultural areas. Project includes levee construction and water supply management.
AnsweredQoN 676Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CARNARVON
FLOOD MITIGATION PROJECT
676. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the
Minister for Water:
Can the minister please update the house on the progress of
the royalties for regions flood mitigation project in Carnarvon in my
electorate?
FLOOD MITIGATION PROJECT
676. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the
Minister for Water:
Can the minister please update the house on the progress of
the royalties for regions flood mitigation project in Carnarvon in my
electorate?
AnswerView source ↗
Like the Leader of the National
Party, I acknowledge in the gallery the people from the community resource
centre network, particularly those good people from Boyup Brook, Nannup and
Pemberton. It is a fantastic part of the state.
I recall getting a call from the
member for North West, as he then was, in 2010 when there were significant
floods in the Gascoyne catchment area. He made the point that the intelligence
on the ground was that there was going to be a significant flood event. He
convinced me of the merits of the issue that was emerging. A couple of days
later, the Premier and I visited Carnarvon and got the chance to fly over the
affected area. Indeed, it was devastating to see not only the encroachment on
people's homes, but also the impact on the agricultural developments in
that area. A number of flood levees that protect Carnarvon were put in place in
the 1960s. They largely protect the town area, not the horticultural area. The
damage bill from that particular flood, including for infrastructure and crop
losses and to replace a lot of the topsoil that had been washed away, was in
the order of $87 million. That was a substantial impact from that one flood
event in the Gascoyne area. Since then, the Liberal–National government
has made a decision to put in place flood mitigation works to the tune of $60 million,
with $45 million from royalties for regions funds and $15 million from the
commonwealth. A series of levee banks will be put in place to reduce the impact
of future floods in that area and also will help to protect the horticultural
areas.
We are talking about a region that
contributed $104 million to the economy and 42 500 tonnes of fruit and
vegetables in 2012. It is reasonable for the state government to make a
decision, as it has, to protect that area and to make sure that the impact of
flood events in the future is reduced.
I got a chance recently to look at the levee banks; indeed, I
think the Minister for Regional Development and the Premier will be up there
this weekend to look at them. I will give members an idea of the progress of
that project. The levee at Six Mile Creek and the roadworks on the North West Coastal
Highway are fully finished. The earthworks on the Lawson Street levee, which
will be 4.8 kilometres long and four metres high, are finished and the
earthworks are well progressed on the second major levee at Nickol Bay. The
work on the remaining two levees hopefully will start pretty soon. It is hard
to appreciate a height of four metres, but it is quite a substantial
construction. I have every confidence that the effort that has gone into
planning that and the quality of the build will ensure that a lot of protection
is put around those horticultural areas in the future.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Collie–Preston,
I call you to order for the first time. You are quite entitled to ask a
question.
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : I took two other decisions on this particular visit. Firstly,
in the past three years we have not had any significant flood events, and that
means that the level of recharge into the aquifers has been significantly
reduced. I have had to make the announcement that 1.5 gigalitres of relief
water, which can be made available when certain trigger points for aquifer
recharge are met, have been made available to that community to help with the
crops for this coming season. I have also made the decision to delay a review
of water licences in that region, particularly given the impact of the flood
event, which people are still getting over commercially, and also because there
are challenges around water supply due to the dry season. We are letting those
people work through that before we review the licences.
In terms of the Liberal–National
government's efforts in Carnarvon, whether there is too much water or
too little, we are there to help and support this significant food bowl in
Western Australia. As I have said, in 2012 over $100 million worth of product
went into the Perth market.
Party, I acknowledge in the gallery the people from the community resource
centre network, particularly those good people from Boyup Brook, Nannup and
Pemberton. It is a fantastic part of the state.
I recall getting a call from the
member for North West, as he then was, in 2010 when there were significant
floods in the Gascoyne catchment area. He made the point that the intelligence
on the ground was that there was going to be a significant flood event. He
convinced me of the merits of the issue that was emerging. A couple of days
later, the Premier and I visited Carnarvon and got the chance to fly over the
affected area. Indeed, it was devastating to see not only the encroachment on
people's homes, but also the impact on the agricultural developments in
that area. A number of flood levees that protect Carnarvon were put in place in
the 1960s. They largely protect the town area, not the horticultural area. The
damage bill from that particular flood, including for infrastructure and crop
losses and to replace a lot of the topsoil that had been washed away, was in
the order of $87 million. That was a substantial impact from that one flood
event in the Gascoyne area. Since then, the Liberal–National government
has made a decision to put in place flood mitigation works to the tune of $60 million,
with $45 million from royalties for regions funds and $15 million from the
commonwealth. A series of levee banks will be put in place to reduce the impact
of future floods in that area and also will help to protect the horticultural
areas.
We are talking about a region that
contributed $104 million to the economy and 42 500 tonnes of fruit and
vegetables in 2012. It is reasonable for the state government to make a
decision, as it has, to protect that area and to make sure that the impact of
flood events in the future is reduced.
I got a chance recently to look at the levee banks; indeed, I
think the Minister for Regional Development and the Premier will be up there
this weekend to look at them. I will give members an idea of the progress of
that project. The levee at Six Mile Creek and the roadworks on the North West Coastal
Highway are fully finished. The earthworks on the Lawson Street levee, which
will be 4.8 kilometres long and four metres high, are finished and the
earthworks are well progressed on the second major levee at Nickol Bay. The
work on the remaining two levees hopefully will start pretty soon. It is hard
to appreciate a height of four metres, but it is quite a substantial
construction. I have every confidence that the effort that has gone into
planning that and the quality of the build will ensure that a lot of protection
is put around those horticultural areas in the future.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Collie–Preston,
I call you to order for the first time. You are quite entitled to ask a
question.
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : I took two other decisions on this particular visit. Firstly,
in the past three years we have not had any significant flood events, and that
means that the level of recharge into the aquifers has been significantly
reduced. I have had to make the announcement that 1.5 gigalitres of relief
water, which can be made available when certain trigger points for aquifer
recharge are met, have been made available to that community to help with the
crops for this coming season. I have also made the decision to delay a review
of water licences in that region, particularly given the impact of the flood
event, which people are still getting over commercially, and also because there
are challenges around water supply due to the dry season. We are letting those
people work through that before we review the licences.
In terms of the Liberal–National
government's efforts in Carnarvon, whether there is too much water or
too little, we are there to help and support this significant food bowl in
Western Australia. As I have said, in 2012 over $100 million worth of product
went into the Perth market.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.