Water Minister Dave Kelly has announced $209,568 towards a new irrigation water supply for a school sports oval and community gardens in the Great Southern town of Gnowangerup.
The funds will help build a water distribution network that connects and pumps water from a 17,000 kL capacity dam not currently used on the west side of town, to distribution tanks at the school oval and community gardens in the middle of the town.
Stormwater harvesting structures will also be built to capture water from the roof of the community church and surrounding buildings to feed into the supply.
The Watering WA Towns grant is to the Gnowangerup Community Church group and the Gnowangerup District High School Parents and Citizens Association, who are contributing a combined $134,680 to the project.
Water will be used to irrigate the school’s oval, a new community hub with community gardens, a men’s shed, community meeting area and an amphitheatre.
When completed the project will reduce use of drinking water for irrigation, saving the community about $30,000 per year on scheme water costs, as well as providing water for new projects, bringing a further estimated value of $30,000 per year in water to the community.