Work on the Lake Albert pipeline is expected to begin within the next couple of months, with Wagga Council granting a tender to J Holdings Group. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The Lake Albert pipeline has taken another step forward, with Wagga Wagga City Council announcing it has entered an agreement with J Holdings Group to lay the pipework for the project.
J Holdings Group will be paid $2,567,858 to weld and lay the pipes that will run about 6.4 kilometres from Lake Albert to the Murrumbidgee River.
The project is expected to begin within the next two months and will take about 20 weeks to complete.
The council said it hoped the pipeline would help improve the environmental conditions of the lake by allowing water to flow to and from the river.
“It’s on track for completion before the end of the year, subject to weather or any on-site conditions that are found,” council’s Manager City Growth and Regional Assets Ben Creighton said.
“Essentially, at this point in time, you’re looking at about a 20-week bill for the actual pipeline itself.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks where we will enter into our contract negotiations to sign the final contract, and then from there, we’ll look, probably in the next month or so, preliminary works will start.”
Mr Creighton confirmed the council was hopeful the pipe laying aspect of the project would be completed before the 2026-27 summer, but said water would not be flowing until April 2027 at the earliest.
“This component of the project absolutely will be completed well and truly before then [December],” he said.
“There are still other elements of the project which are happening concurrently at the same time, but our licence with the State Government means that we can only start to pump water through the pipeline from the river starting in April next year.
“We can only pump during the winter season when there’s less demand for irrigators. So the actual significant amount of water that will be pumped through the pipeline will only start to occur from sort of mid next year.”
The council’s current licence will allow for 1800 megalitres to run through the winter months each year, a number that Mr Crieghton said will support the lake during the typically dryer months.
“In terms of the actual water levels, it will actually have a significant impact, because obviously 1800 megalitres of water is a significant amount of water, and will ensure that the lake maintains a high level,” he said.
“In terms of the algae issues, this is not a silver bullet, but we’re confident it will assist with the issues.
“There’s no real silver bullet for the algae issues. Yes, it will contribute to a solution or assist in providing a solution, but it won’t be the silver bullet that will automatically stop any issues.”
