Newsletter #6 – August 2025

Our project will make a real difference to the Somerset and Lockyer communities. That’s why it's important people in our region both understand the project and what it can mean for them.

We think we can do more in this regard and to that end we will be launching our Customer and Community Awareness Program in mid-August. The four-month program is focused on identifying additional customers for our scheme as well as educating our communities on the benefits our project will deliver.

We understand the importance of our project to the region, but we also want to ensure that key decision makers, including the Commonwealth and the State Governments, can be confident that the project enjoys the support of our local communities.

Customer and Community Awareness Campaign

The program will be built on a social and digital campaign that brings our project to life.

It will have two key focuses:

• It will allow potential customers, that the project has not already reached, to be able to register their interest.
•  For the community, we are looking for an easy and creative way for them to pledge their support.

Importantly, the program will allow the project to build some foundational communication channels and an audience base that can be used during the future construction phase as well as the ongoing operation of the scheme. It will also allow the project to collect important data to demonstrate community support.

Are you a hero?

In addition to the above, we are also shooting project “hero videos’’ to show the diversity of our customer base beyond traditional salad and vegetable growers, as well as the support the project enjoys in the business community of our region.

The videos will be key content used as part of the awareness program, to tell the story of this once in a lifetime water security project. Please find link below for a sneak preview of two of the videos. A massive thanks to Anthony Staatz and Andy O’Brien from Pohlmans Nursery for sharing their story.

Strategic Advisory Group up and running

In July our Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) met for the first time. The high calibre of membership of the SAG reflects a recognition of the significance of our project to the agriculture sector in Queensland, regional food security and the broader economy of Queensland.

Members include the peak industry body for fruit, vegetable and nut growers Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers (QFVG), the industry association for greenlife growers and retail nurseries, Greenlife Industry Queensland, the Queensland Farmers’ Federation, Healthy Land and Water, the Regional Development Authority Ipswich and West Moreton, and the Council of Mayors of South East Queensland (COMSEQ).

First meeting of the project’s Strategic Advisory Group
 

The SAG serves as an advisory body to provide guidance on effective stakeholder engagement and communications. The members will help ensure that we engage and communicate with the right stakeholders, at the right time and in the right way, to maximise project support.

Given the significance of this group, I thought it was worth sharing some of their comments about our project.

QFVG Chief Executive Rachel Chambers

“The project is about delivering future food security to SEQ and Queensland’s growing population. The Lockyer Valley and Somerset regions currently provide 40% of Queensland’s fresh produce and 5% of the nations.

“This is a food security project first and foremost and I applaud the project and the State Government for looking at innovative ways to utilise existing water infrastructure.’’

Greenlife Industry Queensland Chief Executive Colin Fruk

“The establishment of the SAG and remobilisation of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme could be a game-changing opportunity for Queensland’s nursery production sector.

“Access to a secure, climate-resilient water source is critical to the long-term sustainability of our industry. Repurposing high-quality recycled water would not only reduce pressure on traditional water supplies but also helps future-proof our sector, boosting jobs, green infrastructure, and environmental outcomes across the state.’’

Queensland Farmer’s Federation Chief Executive Jo Sheppard

“Sustainable and reliable water supply was fundamental to the continued viability and growth of Queensland’s agriculture sector, and national food security.

“Water security and affordability is critical for the Government to deliver its commitment to boost the State’s agriculture production to $30 billion by 2030. This project is a great initiative that seeks to find solutions to safeguard the future of water in what is a very important region, not just for agriculture, but for consumers as well.’’

Wamuran irrigation Schemes shows the way with use of recycled water

The Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative toured the new Wamuran Irrigation Scheme just outside of Caboolture in July

We are not the first in Queensland to use recycled water. Already growers in Wamuran north of Brisbane are using A+ water from Unitywater on their crops.

In July, we took the opportunity, to tour the new Wamuran Irrigation Scheme outside of the Caboolture. A big thanks to the team at Unitywater and Pinata Farms for hosting the tour. Unitywater, the Sunshine Coast water and wastewater authority, developed the scheme in collaboration with local growers.

The $120 million scheme started operating earlier this year. It followed 10 years of planning, two years of construction and rigorous testing by Queensland Health. The project involves a 22-kilometre-long pipeline constructed to transport Class A treated wastewater from the South Caboolture sewage treatment plant. It is pumped to the Moodlu quarry storage facility, then onto farms.

There are some key differences between our project but also similarities. The Wamuran project uses 2600ML annually and our project is looking at an average of about 20,000ML. Wamuran focuses on more high end discretionary fresh produce, including berries and pineapples, whereas our project is about producing the daily staple salad and vegetable products required by families and households. What we do share in common is the best use of recycled water for the benefits of our communities and the State economy.

WHAT ELSE IS UP?

We have continued our focus on engaging and briefing our priority stakeholders at both a State and Federal Level.

Over July we continued our engagement with the water department and the office of the Minister for Water Hon.  Ann Leahy. Both our Mayors Tanya Milligan and Jason Wendt have been at the forefront of our engagement with the State. Our local Member for Lockyer Hon. Jim McDonald MP is actively engaged and supporting our efforts with the State.

In addition to our engagement with Minister Leahy, our Mayors have proactively reached out to the following State Cabinet Ministers -Treasurer Hon. David Janetzki, Minister for Primary Industries Hon. Tony Perrett, Minister for Manufacturing and Regional Development Hon. Dale Last, Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell and the Minister for Small Business Hon. Steve Minnikin.

The project has also actively engaged with the Council of Mayors of South East Queensland including the COMSEQ chair, Lord Mayor Cr. Adrian Schrinner and deputy chair, Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Cr. Peter Flannery. Importantly COMSEQ has indicated its support for our project.

On the Commonwealth front, the project has provided detailed briefings to the office of the Minister for Environment and Water Senator Hon. Murray Watt as well as Assistant Minister for Agriculture Senator Hon. Anthony Chisholm. Both Minister Watt and Senator Chisholm are Queenslanders and understand the importance of the Lockyer Valley and Somerset region to Queensland and the nation’s food security.

PROJECT UPDATES

In addition, the project is also looking at the impact of climate viability on the existing three storages within the region – Atkinson Dam, Lake Clarendon and Bill Gunn Dam. The project is engaging a preeminent climate scientist Roger Stone and his team to undertake sub-catchment assessment of rainfall, inflows, temperature and evaporation over the next 5, 10, 15, and 20-year period.

The aim of this work is to demonstrate to the government that while our scheme opens the door to significant future agriculture expansion in the future, it is also very much about shoring up existing production. There is a need to act now to ensure production within the region, which is now at $770 million annually, is not impacted by future weather volatility and drought

DID YOU KNOW

The Queensland Government has released its Primary Industries Prosper 2050, a 25-year draft blueprint designed to reposition agriculture, fisheries, forestry and biosecurity as high-growth, innovation-driven pillars of Queensland’s economy. The plan aims to ensure that primary industries remain the backbone of Queensland’s economy, with a bold vision to achieve $30 billion in agricultural output by 2030 or an increase of more than $7 billion a year based on the 2023-24 sector output.

Primary industries are already a key part of the economic engine room of Queensland. As of 2023–24, the sector supported over 376,000 jobs—13% of the State’s workforce—across more than 41,500 enterprises. Export earnings exceeded $16 billion.

The 25-year draft blueprint contains the below government commitments and targets. Many of them align with our project goals and needs.

• Export Market Growth - achieve greater than 5% per annum increase in export market growth. 
• Regulatory Burden Reduction - Achieve a 25% reduction in regulatory burden. 
• AgTech Adoption - Increase industry adoption of AgTech.
•  Workforce Composition Increase the number of graduates entering primary industries jobs and shift toward higher-skilled, digital, and data-enabled roles.
• Public Sentiment - increase positive public sentiment toward Queensland's primary industries. 
• Environmental Stewardship Recognition - achieve greater recognition of environmental stewardship, including conservation, biodiversity protections, emissions reduction, and resource efficiencies. 
• Waste Transformation - increase the transformation of waste into high-value products. 
• Infrastructure Access - increase access to primary industries enabling infrastructure