Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative
Securing our water future
Project details
The objective of the Lockyer Valley & Somerset Water Security Scheme (LVSWSS) project is to transport water into the Lockyer Valley to make more water available for irrigation to significantly increase agricultural production in the region.
In 2020 a Detailed Business Case (DBC) was completed for the LVSWSS Project. The reference case pumped water from Wivenhoe Dam to the Lockyer Valley via a new trunk pipeline connecting Wivenhoe to 3 existing Seqwater owned irrigation dams (Adkinson, Bill Gunn and Lake Clarendon dams) and a piped distribution network.
The water product in this case was raw water from Wivenhoe Dam which would be delivered to 251 connected properties in the Lockyer Valley, at an average reliability of 75%, via newly constructed infrastructure. This infrastructure comprised a 297km piped distribution network, 10 pump stations and 7MW of solar array to offset the required pumping energy costs. The demand for this case was assessed as being 34,000ML/year.
The 2020 DBC was based on the understanding that the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme (WCRWS) could also be used to replace water provided to Lockyer and Somerset irrigators through the proposed LVSWSS pipeline. It is now uncertain when or if the WCRWS will be recommissioned, In response to this uncertainly a variation to the original design has been proposed ('the alternate reference case').
It involves partial recommissioning of the WCRWS, to produce Purified Recycled Water (PRW) which would be pumped through the Western Pipeline directly to an offtake point for the LCSWSS, bypassing Wivenhoe Dam.
The current project phase of the LVSWSS project is called the Optimisation Assessment Phase (OAP). The objective of the OAP is to assess the alternate reference case and review and update the analysis of the original 2020 DBC reference case as well as updating the base case. The deliverable artefact for Phase 1 of the OAP is the Viability Assessment Report (VAR). The ultimate deliverable for Phase 2 is the Lockyer Valley & Somerset Water Security Scheme Optimisation Assessment Report (OAR).
To assist in managing the project, the Lockyer Valley & Somerset Water Collaborative (LV&SWC) have engaged Infrastructure Project Solutions as our Owners Engineer and appointed Kellogg Brown Root in the role of Lead Advisor.
About Us
Our Vision
Our Project
Our Project
Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative is established to ensure a shared position on future water security, supply and management for all water users and the communities of the region.
The membership of the Lockyer Valley Somerset Water Collaborative is a powerful coalition of leaders and interests that are all committed to a secu
Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative is established to ensure a shared position on future water security, supply and management for all water users and the communities of the region.
The membership of the Lockyer Valley Somerset Water Collaborative is a powerful coalition of leaders and interests that are all committed to a secure and sustainable future for the part of South East Queensland that we love and which offers so much in terms of producing quality food for Australia and the rest of the world.
The Collaborative members are Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council, Lockyer Water Users Forum, Queensland Urban Utilities, Lockyer Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Lockyer Valley Growers Inc.
Our Project
Our Project
Our Project
The Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Security Scheme proposal is a water pipeline distribution infrastructure network to ensure long term water security for agriculture sustainability by supplying additional water, through a pipeline network, to ensure regional growth in the Lockyer Valley and Somerset. This will link and utilise existi
The Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Security Scheme proposal is a water pipeline distribution infrastructure network to ensure long term water security for agriculture sustainability by supplying additional water, through a pipeline network, to ensure regional growth in the Lockyer Valley and Somerset. This will link and utilise existing water storage assets (Atkinsons Dam, Lake Clarendon & Lake Dyer) to build drought and flood resilience and sustainability for future growth.
A Detailed Business Case for the project is completed and demonstrates that the positive economic benefits of the project outweigh the costs. For the project to proceed, the full costs will need to be shared between irrigators and government.
Our Chair
Our Project
Our Chair
Paul Lucas is a Former Deputy Premier of Queensland and over 11 years as a Minister held numerous portfolios including Infrastructure & Planning; Local Government; Energy; and Health. He was involved with infrastructure projects as diverse in scope and delivery mechanism as the SEQ Water Grid; Airport Link; Tugun Bypass; Springfield Rai
Paul Lucas is a Former Deputy Premier of Queensland and over 11 years as a Minister held numerous portfolios including Infrastructure & Planning; Local Government; Energy; and Health. He was involved with infrastructure projects as diverse in scope and delivery mechanism as the SEQ Water Grid; Airport Link; Tugun Bypass; Springfield Rail; and the Inner Northern Busway. Post politics, he is or has been a Non-Executive Director of Infrastructure Boards at all 3 levels of Government and the private sector in Aviation, Rail, Energy, Regional Economic Development, First Nations, and Health . He is dual qualified as a Lawyer and Urban Planner and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors”
Our Partners
