An emergency drilling program to ease water shortages in the Gascoyne has proven successful, with three new recently commissioned production bores capable of delivering approximately four megalitres of water daily to local growers.
In November last year, with an extended dry spell threatening the region’s horticultural production, Agriculture and Food Minister Ken Baston fast-tracked $300,000 State Government funds to support a drilling program.
The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) and Gascoyne Water Asset Mutual Co-operative (GWAMCO) agreed to combine resources and skills to deliver emergency water.
“We drilled 12 exploratory holes and one production bore at sites which had been identified by the recent airborne electromagnetic survey (AEM) analysis undertaken with CSIRO,” DAFWA’s Project Manager for the Gascoyne Food Bowl Tony Della Bosca said.
“The first established production bore was highly productive and capable of producing between 1.3 and 1.5 megalitres of water daily.”
Under the agreement, GWAMCO then used the DAFWA exploratory drilling results and recommendations to develop three additional production bores, two of which are producing above the existing average yield in the bore field.
“This is a great success, with the yield and quality of the water more than meeting our forecast,” Mr Della Bosca said.
Department Principal Research Scientist Richard George said it was also an example of a successful partnership between DAFWA, GWAMCO and contractors, with the first bore coming into production within four weeks of this fast-tracked funding being committed.
Irrigation water for Carnarvon farmers is sourced from aquifers associated with the Gascoyne River and supplied by Gascoyne Water Co-operative.
Until recently, aquifers in the irrigation area had not been adequately recharged since floods in 2010-11, leading to severe water shortages and problems with high salinity.
“With the current river flow, much-needed relief has been given to growers allowing unrestricted pumping for the month of February. This will alleviate demand from growers and corporation bore fields allowing production to return towards capacity,” Mr Della Bosca said.
“In the longer-term, the outcome of the emergency drilling will enable the Gascoyne Water Co-operative to utilise the full allocation of its licence on the Northern Bore Field, so that there shouldn’t be a reoccurrence of the recent capacity constraints experienced by growers.”
Media contact: Jodie Thomson/Dionne Tindale, media liaison +61 (0)8 9368 3937