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IRRIGATION WATER RECYCLING PROJECT

IRRIGATION WATER RECYCLING PROJECT

The massive infrastructure of the Ord River Irrigation area already has a low environmental footprint, thanks in no small measure to the ecologically sensitive management of the Ord Irrigation Cooperative.

Water from the huge resources at Lake Argyle feed through the hydroelectric turbines at the dam to produce enough power for Kununurra as well as surrounding industries.

Water is then gravity fed to the diversion dam and out to the sugar, melon, cereal and sandalwood farms of the valley.

The Tropical Forestry Services Ltd water recycling project is the first endeavour of its kind in the Ord Irrigation Area, taking environmentally friendly agriculture and forestry to the next level.

It captures tail water from the sandalwood bays after irrigation, and re-uses it over and over again.

The hydroelectric power is utilised via a 22 kilowatt pump to raise the tail water from an existing Ord Irrigation tail water drain to a supply channel on a higher level.  So the irrigation process begins once more.

The water recycling project has important environmental and economic advantages which include:

• conservation of water, a nationally scare resource
• re-uses water that would otherwise flow back into wetlands and river systems protecting the delicate ecology of such areas
• when both stages of the project are fully operational significant economic benefits are created by the saving of some 7,000 mega litres of water per annum.

The project could not have been realised without the wholehearted and very generous support of the Ord Irrigation Cooperative and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality.

The following article appeared in the "The West Australian" on the 18th of October 2006.