Kimberley water options rejected

The state government has endorsed the findings of an independent review panel which found that transporting water from the Kimberley to Perth would be too costly and fraught with technical and environmental problems.

Premier Alan Carpenter said the report found that the canal option was high risk, the pipeline option was high cost and the ocean transport options were too expensive for what could be delivered.

"Under these circumstances, and despite recognising an attraction to the dream, it would be irresponsible for a state government to expose billions of dollars of taxpayers' money to such extravagant and risky projects," Mr Carpenter said.

The cost of building a canal was estimated to be $14.5 billion, seven times the estimate put forward by former opposition leader Colin Barnett and engineering group Tenix during the 2005 election campaign.

Tenix has rejected the committee's findings, arguing that the proposal evaluated by the committee was fundamentally different to its own proposal.

The company said in a statement it "remains confident" a full feasibility study of its canal proposal would find it to be acceptable.

Other options evaluated by the committee, chaired by the University of Western Australia's Professor Reg Appleyard, included building a pipeline.

It said the capital cost would be $11.9 billion and the delivered cost of water would be $5.10 per kilolitre, more than three times the current cost.

The committee also evaluated using a fully operational sea tanker ($6.2 billion) and a system of super tankers and tugs towing giant water bags ($5.3 billion).

High operating costs meant the cost of delivered water would be even higher under these options.

By contrast, the desalination plant currently under construction at Kwinana would cost $387 million and deliver 45 gigalitres a year at $1.16 a kilolitre.

Mr Carpenter said the government would continue to pursue a range of water management options to deliver "security through diversity".

These would include water trading, water reclamation plants, improved catchment management and accessing groundwater aquifers.

However the government would only develop the South West Yarragadee aquifer if the proposal was endorsed by the Environmental Protection Authority, Mr Carpenter said.

A further option would be a second desalination plant but this was not currently in contention.