Outback pastoralists hung out to dry over pipeline upgrades

The Broken Hill to Menindee Grazier Pipeline, on which 11 pastoralists rely to service their collective 320,000 hectares, is in need of an urgent upgrade 70 years after its installation.

Landowners were promised funding matched by state and federal government six years ago, but it was withdrawn in 2023 due to "highly sensitive archaeological materials" that were found alongside the proposed upgrade route.

Since then there has been no further attempt by any government to fix the infrastructure, which is managed by Essential Water.

Without a serviceable pipeline, pastoralist Terry Smith, Scarsdale Station, said his business and others that rely on this service would cease to exist.

"This pipeline has been the only source of water for my grazing enterprise and homestead for the past 24 years," Mr Smith said.

"It was the only way we got through the last drought."

There is a maximum of 375,000 litres a day that can be used.

While there is water currently pumped then gravity fed 350 kilometres from the Murray through the pipeline, Mr Smith said there were concerns it could be closed because repairs would be costly.

In 2019, the 270km Murray to Broken Hill pipeline was completed with a promise to build a new pipeline from Menindee to Broken Hill by the then Coalition government.

The federal government announced funding on August 21, 2021, which was matched by the state government to take the total to $10m.

In April 2022, an Aboriginal and Heritage Survey of the proposed pipeline project route was conducted, which identified several areas of cultural heritage sensitivity.

By October that year the state government funding was withdrawn temporarily while alternative options were canvassed.

A spokesperson for the former Coalition government has said that in October 2022, the former NSW government was notified of the discovery of highly sensitive archaeological materials that meant the Broken Hill to Menindee Graziers Pipeline project was unable to proceed on the proposed alignment.

The federal government then withdrew funding in March 2023, while NSW was in caretaker mode.

Mr Smith said pastoralists were now left in limbo as all levels of government had washed their hands of fixing the problem.

"Everyone has based their business model off this pipeline as ground water is non existent," he said.

"We got to the point where the survey pegs went in and we thought the pipeline was going ahead and then they pulled the pin.

"The entire process of trying to confirm some security for the funding of this project for the past eight years has been extremely frustrating and stressful.

"This is hanging over our business that they could turn it off at any time."

The Land put questions to Water Minister Rose Jackson about what was happening with the upgrade.

In response, a spokesperson for the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said while the pipeline upgrade currently wasn't on the table, that did not "mean we can't explore funding options down the track if the project stacks up financially, environmentally and culturally".

The spokesperson said in December 2022, former NSW Water Minister Kevin Anderson wrote to the Australian government asking for the pipeline project to be formally withdrawn.

"This was because sensitive Aboriginal artefacts were discovered within the project's footprint that would have required a complex and lengthy re-assessment process and further investigation into alternative options," the spokesperson said.

"This would have blown the project timeline out significantly, which meant it could not be completed before the mandatory funding deadline of December 2023."

The spokesperson said Essential Water confirmed it could not meet the completion deadline during discussions with the then NSW Department of Planning and Environment (now the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water).

"The current pipeline is still operational and is owned and operated by Essential Water. Any questions to do with this infrastructure is a matter for them," the spokesperson said.

Head of Essential Water, Ross Berry, said in April 2022, Essential Water commissioned an Aboriginal and Heritage Survey of the proposed pipeline project route, which identified several areas of cultural heritage sensitivity.

Mr Berry said Heritage NSW has requested that Essential Water avoid ground disturbance where possible, given the nature of these sites, due to an "extremely high potential for subsurface archaeological materials to be present".

"Due to cultural sensitivity, Essential Water is not looking to proceed with this pipeline pathway," Mr Berry said.

"Essential Water intends to retain the current Menindee to Broken Hill Pipeline until a viable alternative emerges."

Mr Berry said any costs to build a new pipeline not covered by funding grants would be borne across all Essential Water rate payers.

He said at the time of the review in 2022, the estimated cost was $11.5 million, adding that in 2021, the NSW government applied for funding under the National Water Grid Fund's Connections Pathway, which included up to $5m to upgrade the Menindee to Broken Hill Graziers Pipeline with the remaining build cost to be funded by Essential Water.

He said the Broken Hill to Menindee Grazier Pipeline supplies 15 properties with raw water for agricultural purposes. The gravity-fed source of water has been in operation since April 2019 and monitoring has found that water supply, quality and quantity have remained stable and within operating guidelines.