{"id":241602,"date":"2026-01-19T23:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T23:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/241602\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T23:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T23:59:11","slug":"pilbara-water-sources-drying-up-as-blistering-heatwave-continues-in-karratha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/241602\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilbara water sources drying up as blistering heatwave continues in Karratha"},"content":{"rendered":"

A key water source for a major city in Western Australia’s North West has hit its lowest level since 1987, as the region faces another week of temperatures creeping towards 50 degrees Celsius.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Karratha, 1,500 kilometres north of Perth, recorded rainfall for the first time since August 2025.<\/p>\n

The region is typically reliant on tropical lows and cyclones to deliver rainfall each summer.<\/p>\n

But a dry summer, with no rainfall likely in the short term, is putting increasing pressure on the city’s water supply.<\/p>\n

Concerns for groundwater sources<\/p>\n

The Harding Dam, near Roebourne, is the Pilbara’s primary water source.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Harding Dam has hit a low of 10.88GL in January, its lowest recorded supply since 1987. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

This month it dropped to its lowest level in nearly 40 years: 10.69 gigalitres, or 16.8 per cent full.<\/p>\n

When it drops below 18 per cent capacity, the water is not suitable for supply due to poor water quality.<\/p>\n

The immediate alternative is to draw water from the Millstream aquifer, a culturally sacred site<\/a> for the Yindjibarndi people.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Karlon Parker, 11, cools off at Jirndawurrunha Pool which sits above the Millstream aquifer, east of Karratha. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

With both reliant on the same rainfall, this adds to the ongoing pressure.<\/p>\n

Water Corporation North West regional manager Sharon Broad said hotter conditions and less rain had seen annual inflows drop by 80 per cent over the past 30 years.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to have periods of time where there isn’t recharge into the surface water or groundwater,” Ms Broad said.<\/p>\n

Despite the record low, she said Water Corporation was not looking to restrict water usage yet.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Harding Dam has recorded 11GL this month. Anything below 18GL cannot be taken from the dam. (Supplied: Water Corporation)<\/p>\n

Mercury rising<\/p>\n

Amid the water issues, an extreme heatwave warning has been issued for the Pilbara and Gascoyne, with forecast temperatures getting close to 50C.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Onslow recorded Australia’s equal highest maximum temperature<\/a> at 50.7C.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Temperatures are nearing 50C in the Pilbara this summer, with 49C recorded in Onslow already in 2026. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Jessica Lingard said records could be broken.<\/p>\n

“Now, unfortunately, we don’t have the most extensive weather station network through those areas, so it’s likely that a lot of those temperatures will go unverified,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But the models have been suggesting for a while now that those temperatures are a possibility.”<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

Black swans bathe in the shallow waters at Harding Dam. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Ms Lingard said a tropical low, 16U, was forming in the waters north-west of the Kimberley.<\/p>\n

“It’s got a fairly decent chance later this week of becoming a tropical cyclone, moving through the Kimberley region again over the weekend,” she said.<\/p>\n

A water-wise Pilbara<\/p>\n

Karratha nursery operator Natasha Selton said there was a noticeable change when the water supply was switched from Harding Dam to the Millstream aquifer.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Tyler Elliott and Henry Elliott recommend plants such as succulents and cacti that can sustain periods without water. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

“There is a higher level of calcium in the [Millstream] water, so the plants get a film of calcium over the leaves and it makes it harder for them to uptake nutrients,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We would definitely be affected if any water restrictions were put in place for our business.”<\/p>\n

A desalinated future<\/p>\n

The WA government has teamed up with Rio Tinto to plan for a new desalination plant at its existing Dampier operation for the short term, as they look for less climate-reliant solutions for the future.<\/p>\n

Adjunct professor Bill Grace, from the University of Western Australia’s Australian Urban Design Research Centre, said change to the West Pilbara Water Scheme was needed.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Bill Grace says it is likely the north of the state will see fewer cyclones, but they will be more intense. (Supplied: Bill Grace)<\/p>\n

“You could argue that the desal plans should really have been on the table before now \u2014 well before now, probably \u2014 because this was a relatively predictable outcome,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Even without climate change, just looking through the climate record of past years or groups of years where there’s been very low rainfall.”<\/p>\n

Mr Grace said the issue was caused by a combination of growth in the area, huge water demands, high temperatures and no rainfall to keep up with the pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A key water source for a major city in Western Australia’s North West has hit its lowest level…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[142030,273,142027,142026,111,139,69,142029,137848,142028,147,5013,142031,142032],"class_list":{"0":"post-241602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-cyclone-luana","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-harding-dam","11":"tag-karratha-water","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-pilbara-heatwave","16":"tag-pilbara-news","17":"tag-pilbara-weather","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-wa-news","20":"tag-water-corporation","21":"tag-water-restrictions-pilbara"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}