{"id":431231,"date":"2026-01-23T02:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431231\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T02:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:06:11","slug":"water-corporation-investigates-private-sector-water-supply-for-port-hedland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431231\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Corporation investigates private sector water supply for Port Hedland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Water could be trucked to one of Western Australia’s major mining towns amid growing pressure on supply in the Pilbara region.<\/p>\n

Last week the state-run Water Corporation called for registrations of interest in providing bulk water to Port Hedland, about 1,630 kilometres north-east of Perth.<\/p>\n

Home to more than 15,000 residents, the iron-ore hub has been clamouring for alternative water sources for more than a decade, with demand expected to eclipse existing supply by the early 2030s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Alongside ongoing investigations, Water Corporation is using a registration of interest (ROI) process to assess large-scale bulk water proposals from third parties, including their suitability, cost, reliability, and timing,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Port Hedland is sometimes referred to as the “economic engine room” of Australia. (ABC News: Kimberley Putland)<\/p>\n

Any additional supply would supplement existing groundwater sources to support community and industrial demands, including drinking water, irrigation, and ore processing.<\/p>\n

The move was not a concession that Port Hedland had or would imminently run out of water, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

It comes after leaked departmental communications claimed there was not enough water to prop up significant new developments in the town.<\/p>\n

That claim was later walked back<\/a> by Water Corporation when it became public.<\/p>\n

Applications expressing interest in supplying the extra water close in early February.<\/p>\n

Water Minister Don Punch declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Climate change impact<\/p>\n

In its invitation to applicants Water Corporation acknowledged the “profound impact” of climate change on WA.<\/p>\n

It said the pressures had increased with population and industrial growth across the state’s north.<\/p>\n

Port Hedland is home to the largest bulk export port in the world and is an operational focal point for Australia’s mining giants, including Fortescue, BHP and Rio Tinto.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Port Hedland and Karratha have been enduring long periods without rainfall and residents are sharing water with industry giants. (ABC News: Jesmine Cheong)<\/p>\n

It relies on about 14 gigalitres of water drawn annually from the Yule and De Grey bore fields.<\/p>\n

The ROI document reveals an additional supply of up to 10 gigalitres is needed each year from 2028, for a term greater than 10 years.<\/p>\n

Water Corporation previously forecast it needed another 7.5 gigalitres per year to service Port Hedland until 2050.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The various water sources for Port Hedland. (Supplied: Water Corporation)<\/p>\n

Town of Port Hedland commissioner Jessica Shaw welcomed Water Corporation’s decision to seek “innovative” solutions.<\/p>\n

“At the end of the day, we all pay for this stuff,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The important thing is that we get the most cost-effective solution for all taxpayers and all water consumers.<\/p>\n

“There was a bit of misinformation and some misstatements that were made earlier that obviously created angst.”<\/p>\n

Port Hedland Chamber of Commerce and Industries chief executive Scott Ballem told the ABC he was glad action was being taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are looking at immediate solutions to deal with an issue,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully that leads to a longer-term solution that will benefit our hopes and projections for the growth of our community.”<\/p>\n

Regional fears<\/p>\n

The water woes are nothing new for Port Hedland and the Pilbara region.<\/p>\n

A 2010 report by the then WA Department of Water recommended securing another water source for Port Hedland “before 2015”.<\/p>\n

Two hours to the south, the city of Karratha’s preferred water source reached its lowest recorded level since 1987 earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The level at Harding Dam is so low<\/a> that the water is not suitable for use due its poor quality.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Harding Dam supplies water to Karratha, Dampier, Wickham, Roebourne, and Point Samson. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Shadow Water Minister Peter Rundle called for more clarity about what a third-party supply would look like.<\/p>\n

“I think the Water Corp\u00a0needs to come out and be transparent so that business\u00a0and the public are\u00a0actually aware\u00a0of\u00a0what’s\u00a0going on in the world of water up there,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s\u00a0a worry for industrial development and for residential in one of the most important ports, not only in Western Australia, but Australia.”<\/p>\n

He said he would raise the issue in parliament when it resumed in February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Water could be trucked to one of Western Australia’s major mining towns amid growing pressure on supply in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,16802,225764,72817,225762,128,152480,45,32842,225763],"class_list":["post-431231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-pilbara-news","tag-pilbara-water","tag-port-hedland","tag-port-hedland-water-supply","tag-science","tag-south-hedland","tag-wa-news","tag-water-corporation","tag-water-trucking-hedland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}