Esperance Water Supply Upgrade

What’s happening?

Water Corporation is upgrading Esperance’s water supply infrastructure to support water security for the Esperance community. This National Water Grid project is funded by the Australian and Western Australian governments and delivered in partnership with Water Corporation.

We are equipping three existing groundwater bores and constructing a new 1.2km water pipeline in the Eleven Mile borefield, just outside Esperance. The newly equipped bores will replace three existing bores in the Esperance township, which will be decommissioned.

This work will be delivered by our authorised contractors, Saltire Construction. Construction is scheduled to begin in August 2025, and is expected to take approximately six months to complete.

Where is this happening?

The bores and pipeline will be located west of Esperance in the Eleven Mile borefield. Please see the map below. 

Why is this happening?

Esperance’s public drinking water is sourced from a shallow, unconfined superficial aquifer that is replenished by local rainfall. The Esperance groundwater area is divided into 6 subareas, Town, Twilight, Warden, Bandy, Eleven Mile and Butty.

Due to declining rainfall and increasing demand for groundwater in the Esperance groundwater area, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) has recently reviewed its Allocation Plan. As part of this review, DWER has reduced the allocation for the Town subarea, which currently supplies the majority of Esperance’s public drinking water. This reduction is aimed at ensuring the long-term environmental sustainability of groundwater use.

The reduced groundwater allocation in the Town subarea will be offset by the available allocation in the Eleven Mile subarea. While the Eleven Mile subarea has available allocation, it currently lacks the infrastructure needed to access it.

To access the available allocation, we are equipping three existing groundwater bores and constructing a new 1.2km water pipeline in the Eleven Mile borefield. The use of these three bores in the Eleven Mile subarea will not increase Water Corporation's total abstraction allocation in the Esperance groundwater area. 

How will this impact me?

We’ll be using existing Water Corporation sites in Esperance to store machinery and equipment. Most of the work will happen away from homes and businesses, but you may notice increased vehicle movement and noise as crews travel between town and the work area.

Our crews will access the work area using a track that crosses the Great Ocean Trail, which runs between Pink Lake and Twilight Beach. We understand this is a much-loved trail used daily by walkers, runners and cyclists in the community. 

To ensure public safety, we’ll be installing clear signage on both sides of the track intersection. We kindly ask the community to take extra care when approaching this section of the trail, watch for vehicles, and follow any safety instructions in place. 

We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding while we complete this essential work.

What else is planned?

Once the three existing groundwater bores are equipped and the new pipeline is completed, we plan to decommission three existing bores located in the Esperance Town subarea.

We are also planning to partially decommission the Paine Road Water Treatment Plant, which is currently only used during peak summer periods. 

Pending further approvals, this work is expected to commence in early to mid-2026. 

How do we ensure sustainable use of the aquifer?

We all play a part in protecting the environment. Water is a valuable resource, and it’s important that we use and manage it wisely.

The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) is responsible for water resource management across the State. They determine how much water can be taken from groundwater and surface water resources, while safeguarding the sustainability of the resource and protecting the water dependent environment.

Water Corporation works closely with DWER and uses monitoring bores to monitor the aquifer, helping to protect and manage it for the future.