Newsletter #13 – July 2026

In this issue

• $5m State Government endorsement
• Growers’ massive show of faith in the water scheme
• Key events to put our project in the spotlight
• New strategy from Qld Food Farmers' Commissioner
• Sediment reduction – helping growers and the environment
• Social media update

$5m State Government vote of confidence

From left: Jim McDonald MP member for Lockyer, Mayor Milligan, Mayor Wendt, and Minister for Water Ann Leahy, announcing the $5 million in project funding.

The Crisafulli Government has injected a $5 million vote of confidence in our project by securing additional funding as part of the recent State Budget.

Added to the previous $10 million in federal funding, the amount will allow the project to deliver the Queensland and Australian governments a construction ready project for 2028. No other community sponsored, non-government infrastructure project will ever have as well-developed business case as ours.

This injection of funds is a welcome endorsement of the importance of providing real water security for our farmers for the first time and a recognition of the critical role our region plays in delivering food security for our State and nation.

And our key ministers made their commitments plain:

Minister for Water Ann Leahy said the investment was a “vital step towards increasing water supply for local growers by 50 per cent, providing greater certainty for farmers and supporting regional growth.’’

Minister for Primary Industries Tony Perrett said the investment was “about giving growers dependable access to water so they can lift productivity, expand production and make confident decisions for their farms.”

We will provide both the Queensland and Australian governments with an extremely well developed and investment ready Optimisation Assessment Report, or updated business case, by the end of August.

The additional funding will allow the project to get on the ground and strengthen our detailed business case, finalise our pipeline route and approvals approach to provide government with additional certainty on the capital funding required. Most importantly it will give government the confidence that our project will be delivered with the funding allocated, significantly mitigating the risk of cost blowouts.

See the full Queensland Government press release announcing the funding below.

GROWERS’ MASSIVE SHOW OF FAITH IN THE WATER SCHEME

From left: Steve Kluck - Limit Farms & Brock Sutton -Sutton Farms

Last month the Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor Tanya Milligan and Somerset Regional Council Mayor Jason Wendt announced more than 100 growers had signed on as foundation customers.

Our water sales process has continued. The Collaborative is very pleased to advise that a total of 120 growers have now signed up to just over 17,000ML or almost 80 per cent of the scheme’s 22,000ML capacity. This includes some of the major farming enterprises in the region. 

This equates to almost $1.3 million committed in grower deposits. It is safe to say that the result has exceeded our expectations and demonstrates strong grower support and willingness to invest in the scheme.

The initial sales process has now been closed off while the project determines the timing of the next round of water sales. Following advice from the Queensland Government, changes to the Lockyer Somerset Water Company structure are required to establish an entity suitable for the delivery and construction of the project, and ultimately transition to a locally managed entity for operation. We will take advantage of the timing required for these changes and have extended the date set for issuing and payment of invoices from the recent water sales process.  

Invoices are now expected to be sent in October with deposit payments anticipated to be due by 30 November 2026.  Further advice will be provided once amendments are in place.

It is important to note that the significant economic benefits that our project will deliver to Queensland and our region were initially based on the scheme taking 10 years to be fully subscribed.

The high level of initial grower support will ensure these benefits, including a $270 million annual increase in fresh produce and annual increase of Queensland’s Gross State Product of $174 million, will be delivered far sooner than forecast. 

Based on initial water sales, we believe the project is likely to be fully subscribed before construction starts.

On behalf of the Collaborative, I would like to extend a big thank you to the growers who have shown faith in our water scheme. Your support fuels our progress and sends a strong message to the government about the strength of grower support and the urgent need for this infrastructure.

KEY EVENTS TO PUT OUR PROJECT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Prominent Australian demographer Bernard Salt

Prominent Australian demographer Bernard Salt has been a driving force behind understanding and promoting regional Australia’s potential.

In conjunction with the Lockyer Valley Chamber of Commerce, we’re delighted to bring his unique insights to a breakfast on Wednesday 26 August.

His work has highlighted the importance of regional areas in shaping Australia’s economic future.

His predictions about the next decade being the `time for the regions’ reflect a growing recognition of the likes of the Lockyer Valley and Somerset to attract and retain a diverse population, underlining the need for greater economic and social opportunities.

Our project fits the bill – delivering $270 million of additional production from our region and increasing Queensland’s Gross State Product by $174 million year on year. 

The project will also secure almost 4000 permanent and seasonal jobs and an additional 600 jobs.

Tickets will sell out fast and are available below:

Our project will also be hosting a “drop in’’ session at Queensland Parliament on Thursday the 27 August.

The event will be an opportunity for Ministers, MPs and advisors to hear directly from growers, peak industry and our Mayors.

Importantly, we are also aiming to use the event as an opportunity to formally hand Minister Leahy a copy of our final Optimisation Assessment Report.

NEW STRATEGY FROM QLD’S FOOD FARMERS’ COMMISSIONER

From left: Hon Anthony (Tony) Perrett & Queensland’s Food Farmers’ Commissioner Rachel Chambers

Queensland’s Food Farmers’ Commissioner Rachel Chambers has released her Strategic Direction 2026-2028.

It is very pleasing to say that our project is a great example of the strategy in action and the food security framework she has developed. The framework focuses on:

• Production
• Nutrition security / public health
• Economic
• Access and equity
• Land stewardship
• Resilience and infrastructure
• Governance

The Commissioner has set herself the vision of “prosperous Queensland food farmers, secure food’’ with a mission of “translating food security into actions and outcomes for Queensland’’.

The Commissioner has been a strong advocate for our project, and we continue to ensure she is kept up to date with our progress.

Click below to read the Strategic Direction on the Collaborative website:

SEDIMENT REDUCTION – HELPING GROWERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

We have written previously about the potential benefits our project, through a sediment reduction program, could deliver to COMSEQ’s Resilient Rivers initiative.

The next phase of our work is to develop a framework to incentivise grower participation. We are pleased to be able to share the key principles the framework is seeking to adopt.

• Growers should financially benefit, be no worse off or receive adequate compensatory income for participation in sediment and pollution reduction schemes
• A whole farm or enterprise sediment and pollution reduction approach should be adopted
• Co-design and collaboration are pre-requisites for sediment and pollution reduction scheme design
• Environmental benefits must be quantified and monetised where possible
• Scheme wide aggregation and scale is the required and preferred business model
• Grower participation should be simple and transparent with enterprise risks recognised and reduced.

Our project, with its customers stretching across the region, provides a unique opportunity to address soil loss on farms and reduce sediment flow into waterways and ultimately Moreton Bay, at a scale never before available.

COMSEQ has estimated such a program would save up to 130,000 tonnes a year or more than $2.5 million annually based on the current cost of removal.

SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT

The Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative social campaign continued to build momentum throughout June, where we delivered six pieces of content on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

The content achieved more than 12,000 impressions and almost 4500 views. The top performing post was Brock Sutton’s video from Sutton Farms endorsing how authentic storytelling resonates.

Our thanks go to growers for their ongoing participation in communicating our scheme and putting a human face on our project.

Please sign up and encourage your friends and family to do so too!

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.