In western Australia, the Government of Premier Colin Barnett has committed $37 million to the $380 million project for works on the Wellington Dam. This money would be allocated towards diverting water from the Collie River away from the Dam—in order to desalinate it for farmers.  Premier Barnett indicated that this plan would help drop salinity levels in the dam by over 50 percent, over the next few years.^[1] Even though the dam is western Australia’s second largest surface water reservoir—drought has rendered the water highly saline, and virtually useless to farmers in the Collie and Myalup areas.

The Government also plans to support an initiative known as the Collie Water Solution, in accord with the Myalup-Wellington Water for Food Project.^[2]  This initiative would divert saline water from the Collie River into a disused mine, and then desalinate that water at a plant near Collie. Eventually, this plant would supply between 10 and 20 gigalitres of fresh water (10,000,000-20,000,000 cubic metres) for local farmers.  The Water Minister, Mia Davies, has praised the proposal as environmentally and economically viable.  Minister Davies has also said that the project will require significant funding from both the public and private sector.

Meanwhile, the global ratings agency, Fitch, placed a negative watch on Victoria’s desalination plant—after significant damage to an underground power cable late last year.^[3]  Another top agency, the S&P Global Ratings, is currently in the process of determining the implications of this equipment failure for the plant’s owner-operator, Aquasure.  The company has debts of $3.5 billion, and received its first water order from the Labor government last year, four years after completing construction.^[4]  Fitch has indicated that it would revise its assessment of the plant once it restores full operational capacity—presumably, by the end of February.

^{The desalination plant in Wonthaggi, Victoria  Credit: AFR Weekend}

More than a dozen desalination plants are currently under proposal for construction along the Pacific Coast.  In Southern California, the West Basin Municipal Water District is attempting to shore up a source of desalinated water.^[5]  The West Basin General Manager, Rich Nagel, has said that his district has exhausted its capacity for water recycling, stormwater capture, and conservation. The district currently recycles up to 40 million gallons of water each day, for use on golf courses, in cooling towers, and in refineries.  Nagel has identified desalination as a critical source of drinking water for the state, since California legislation requires recycled water to be filtered through the ground or diluted in reservoirs.  West Basin officials aim to acquire 10-15% of the district’s water from its proposed desalination plant.  They will release an environmental impact report this winter, for a facility that can produce either 20 or 60 million gallons of desalinated water per day.  If the water agency finds a suitable business partner, it will opt for the larger capacity, which will make it the largest facility in the Americas.