Tarin Rock and Newdegate get water pipeline extensions

7/4/99
The wheatbelt towns of Tarin Rock and Newdegate now have a reliable water supply with the commissioning today of water pipeline extensions to the towns.
Water Resources Minister Dr Kim Hames said today the centres had struggled with water shortages for many years and that up until now it had been a problem which had been deemed too costly to solve.
Dr Hames said that the extensions underlined the Government's commitment to provide water supplies to areas which needed a reliable supply.
"For many years - and through successive governments - the supply of water to several rural areas has been neglected because it has been too costly to provide to small, scattered communities," Dr Hames said.
"As the Minister for Water Resources I found that an unacceptable situation and in 1997 I launched the Rural Water Supply Improvement Program with the objective of addressing this situation."
The $413,000 Tarin Rock project involved a 15km pipeline west from Lake Grace, a pumping station and storage tanks to provide water to farms and other customers along the way.
The $2.7 million Newdegate project involved a 100km pipeline east from Lake Grace, a pumping station and a major storage tank. The project provides security of supply for the Newdegate town scheme and water to 52 farms and other customers along the route.
A feature of the Rural Water Supply Improvement Scheme is a requirement forlocal communities to provide one third of the cost through capital or in kind contributions.

Dr Hames said the program existed only because local communities played their part in a practical way, through contributions of equipment and labour.
"Farmers and other local people put aside their normal work for many hours and by all accounts the work was of a very high standard," he said.
"A number of voluntary workers on both projects added to their skills by undertaking training as pipelayers at special courses provided in Lake Grace by the South Metropolitan College of TAFE."
Dr Hames said five projects had been completed through the improvement program. A further 10 projects are under way or in the planning stage with $13 million earmarked for extensions or improvements across wide areas of farmland.
"The works underway include projects east of Lake Grace at Lake King and Jerramungup," he said.
"At Lake King an additional bitumen catchment is being built to boost the water supply and at Jerramungup a similar but larger project will help the town overcome the stringent water restrictions of recent years."
Media statement: Caroline Lacy 9424 7450
Water Corporation: Phil Kneebone 9420 2420.