Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative

Newsletter #10 – Feb 2026

In this issue

Project update
New climate assessment
Tour of the St George locally managed irrigation scheme (Mallawa Irrigation)
Latest on our stakeholder engagement
Qld Government’s ongoing support for irrigation
Update on our Customer and Community Engagement Program

Securing our customer base is now our priority

The Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Security Scheme has hit the ground running in 2026.

Off the back of completing our economic benefits assessment in October last year, we are now full throttle finalising our Optimisation Assessment Report to be provided to the Queensland and Commonwealth governments for capital investment consideration by June this year.

I am pleased to be able to say this report is well and truly on track and will include a range of required technical assessments as well as taking the project to 30% design.

Our critical priority is to now nail down our customer base. As per previously newsletters, we have settled on a 22,000ML scheme with a trunk main and supply spur lines. This uses about one third of the capacity of the existing Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme– which means there is capacity for other government uses and priorities. This includes a standalone reservoir as preferred storage option although we will continue to assess use of the existing Seqwater dams. A new reservoir has the advantage of providing our region with more water storage into the future and keeps the option open for future use of existing dams.

The new pipeline route (using Purified Recycled Water or PRW) is a revision of the initial 34,000ML scheme from the 2020 Detailed Business Case and reflects the volume of water growers told the project last year they were prepared to purchase. The attached diagram below is the current route of our pipeline and spur lines. This route is able to revised based on final grower demand.

22,000 ML/yr scheme (As identified demand from last EOI in 2025)

34,000 ML/yr scheme (As per DBC in 2020)

From our three previous rounds of Expressions of Interest for water we know we have up to 150 growers and some industry as potential customers. At 22,000ML, it not only allows most existing growers to participate but provides the largest economic benefit to the State. Just a reminder that our economic analysis showed an increase in food production of $270 million a year and a lift in Queensland’s Gross State Product of $174 million year on year. It’s what we call in the project “the sweet spot’’.

We now need to clearly identify and secure our customer base.

The project is currently finalising the planning of the next phase of grower engagement to move from interest to binding water sales contracts. As per our previous approach, this will include one on one discussions with growers who have previously expressed interest.

We are aiming to hold customer forums in April this year post Easter in both the Lockyer Valley and Somerset to kick start this engagement. We will advise the dates and times as soon as they are locked in.

It is critical that we are able to demonstrate to government that we have growers and customers on board.

Our region faces increasing threat of drought

Roger Stone, esteemed Climatologist.

A new climate assessment commissioned by the project has highlighted significant challenges for our region and its farmers.

This includes an increase in the size and frequency of more extreme weather events. Periods of drought are likely to be repeated and potentially more severe, exacerbated by long-term temperature increases.

The work was undertaken by esteemed climatologist Professor Roger Stone and focused on the climate outlook for the Lockyer Valley and Somerset over the next 30 years.

Critically it highlights the trend towards excessively hot and dry days in any given year. This includes potential for the maximum number of consecutive dry days in the region to increase from a recent average of 34 days/year to potentially up to 70 days/year by 2049.

It is clear that our scheme is essential to help mitigate the increasing threat of drought and extreme heat.

You have previously told us that one of the reasons you are supportive of our project is its ability to give you much better water reliability and hence opportunity for better contracts. Professor Stone’s work emphasises this point even further.

Tour of the St George locally managed irrigation scheme (Mallawa Irrigation)

Mallawa Irrigation tour

As previously communicated, the project preference is for our scheme to be grower managed through a Local Management Area [LMA] operating model.

With this in mind, our Mayors and members of the project team visited the Mallawa Irrigation, the LMA which operates the irrigation channel scheme out of St George.

Mallawa Irrigation took over ownership and management of the scheme from Sunwater from 1 July 2018. It is worth noting that negotiations for LMA started back in 2013. Sunwater continues to manage the bulk assets, including Beardmore Dam.

The St George channel scheme comprises of 112KM of pipelines and channels between the Balonne River and Buckinbah pump station. It distributes water to around 50 customers irrigating 10,000 hectares of land. Largely services cotton growers but some horticultural as well.

The scheme supplies about 54,000ML/annually through channels and an additional 15,000ML from river flow. It is largely gravity fed (90%) and predominately flood irrigation.

The scheme was a loss-making asset under Sunwater management and operation. Since the scheme has been under LMA it has driven efficiency and significantly reduced costs to growers from that forecast under Sunwater.

The Mallawa scheme is rightly referred to as the most successful LMA in Queensland.

The trip was incredibly valuable and insightful and provided the project with a great example of how a locally managed scheme can prosper with the right governance structure, smart operators, passionate staff, and a strongly supportive customer base.

While the trip highlighted key differences between our respective schemes, most notably an open channel scheme versus pipes and pumps, it also provided some salient lessons.

One of the key lessons taken on board is the need to demonstrate strong grower and customer support to government and regulators. It also gave our project a greater understanding of the need to consider a transition period before local management takes full responsibility for the new infrastructure and operation of the scheme.

The importance of high-quality board during the establishment phase significantly assisted Mallawa in gaining government support.

Big thanks to current Mallawa Chair Justin Schultz and his team for organising the tour and their offer of ongoing assistance as our project progresses.

Continue to build our key stakeholder foundations

The project continues to build on its strategic partnerships.

Over February, we met with Seqwater and Urban Utilities to continue to progress their understanding of the project and the genuine benefits it will deliver to both organisations. This work will continue through the Senior Leadership Group established last year involving both Council CEOs and the CEOs from Seqwater and UU.

Our relationship with the Council of Mayors of SEQ goes from strength to strength. COMSEQ has provided a letter of support to our project to the State Government.

In addition, the project and COMSEQ are undertaking a joint initiative to better understand the role our scheme and growers can play in contributing to the future health of the region’s key waterways and Moreton Bay. Importantly the initiative has adopted the principle that any contribution must directly benefit growers. For example, the initiative will seek to identify opportunities to establish passive incomes for growers involved. We will ensure that the project’s grower reps are actively involved in the initiative and will keep you up to date as the work progresses.

In discussions with the Water Minister The Honourable Ann Leahy MP in December last year, our Mayors raised the option of the State declaring our scheme a coordinated project or a project of regional significance to assist the approvals pathway and to best allow the project to be construction ready by 2028.

I am pleased to advise that we have had a number of productive meetings with the Office of Coordinator General. We are grateful to the Deputy Premier Bleijie’s office for facilitating these meetings. The OCG will continue to provide guidance and advice and ensure we can provide the State with the required information for formal consideration of a coordinated project declaration following the completion of the OAR.

Our Mayors had the opportunity to brief the Deputy Premier The Honourable Jarrod Bleijie MP directly in late February on the key economic benefits of our project and the food security it will deliver. The Deputy Premier demonstrated his understand of our region and the important role it plays in food production.

Over February, we provided project updates to the new Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers CEO Scott Kompo-Harms and Queensland Food Farmers’ Commissioner Rachel Chambers.

We also welcomed Mr Kompo-Harms and Turf Queensland and local turf grower Greg Banff as members of our Stakeholder Advisory Group. The SAG will play an integral role in providing input and guidance to our OAR over the first half of 2026.

We have also had the opportunity to provide further briefings to Federal Minister for Environment and Water Senator The Honourable Murray Watt and Federal Member for Blair The Honourable Shayne Neumann MP.

Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers CEO Scott Kompo-Harms

DID YOU KNOW?

We welcome recent announcements from the Queensland Government continuing to deliver on its commitment to unlock water for economic development across the State.

Recently the government announced an additional 55,000ML to support agriculture and industry growth for farmers on Cape York.

In our case water security is not only the key to future prosperity and employment for our region but will deliver future food security and significant economic benefits to our State.

FIRST PHASE OF OUR DIGITAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN WRAPS UP

Finally, our Customer and Community Awareness Program wraps up in early March.

Our campaign, via a new project LinkedIn and Facebook sites, focused on lifting community understanding of our project and its benefits as well as seeking to identify potential future customers of our scheme.

Just a reminder of the links below if you haven’t already jumped on board.

An evaluation will be undertaken on the program to date, and we will share the findings.

We are now considering a second stage of the campaign to ensure we can continue to share details of our project as it progresses.

Facebook

The LVSWSS forms part of the Water Initiatives in the Lockyer Valley commitment being delivered under the SEQ City Deal, a partnership between the Australian and Queensland governments and the Council of Mayors SEQ, with 29 commitments being delivered to generate long-lasting benefits for the fast-growing region.

The Water Initiatives in the Lockyer Valley commitment is comprised of the LVSWSS and the SEQ Agricultural Water Assessment (SEQAgRWA), which is developing longer-term water security planning for the region. The LVSWSS is funded with contributions from the Australian Government of $10 million and Lockyer Valley Regional Council and Somerset Regional Council of $0.8 million. The Queensland Government has committed $2.5 million to the SEQAgRWA.