Goldfields Water Supply Scheme
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was commissioned in 1896 and completed in 1903. The pipeline continues to operate today, supplying water to over 100,000 people in over 33,000 households as well as mines, farms and other enterprises. Water scarcity During the early 1890s, thousands of settlers had travelled into the barren and dry desert centre of Western Australia seeking gold, but the existing infrastructure for the supply of water was non-existent, and an urgent need arose. Prior to the scheme, water condensers, irregular rain, and water trains were part of the range of sources. Railway dams were essential for water to supply locomotives to travel to the goldfields. Origins of the scheme Throughout the 1890s, water availability issues in Coolgardie and in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder region were causing concern. On 16 July 1896, the Premier of Western Australia, Sir John Forrest introduced to Western Australian Parliament a bill to authorise the raising of a loan of £2.5 million to construct the scheme: the pipeline would convey of water per day to the Goldfields