In 1903 the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme became the ‘golden pipeline’, bringing reliable fresh water to the parched area. Once labelled a ‘scheme of madness’, it is now internationally acclaimed.
Designer CY O’Connor believed fresh water could be pumped so far and lifted so high through a steel pipeline that it would reach the gold fields at Kalgoorlie, 560 km from the storage reservoir in the Perth Hills. It was such an audacious plan for the time that it was met with both wild optimism and harsh condemnation.
The pipeline, together with the ensuing population expansion and the clearing of land for agricultural purposes, spelled prosperity for many colonist farmers and miners, but disaster for traditional Aboriginal ways of life.
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is now recognised on the National Heritage List and the associated Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail offers a unique heritage tourism experience that explores this history of struggle and survival, with 25 stops at key places along its length.
The National Trust has been managing these places and the many stories associated with them, in collaboration with Water Corporation and various local governments, since 1997.
Please Note: Pump stations No 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 at Merredin, Yerbillon, Ghooli, Gilgai and Dedari are temporarily closed for remediation works by Water Corporation.
