18/06/2026
๐โค๏ธALCOA TO PERMANENTLY EXIT PERTH HILLS โค๏ธ๐
We are so relieved to hear that Alcoa has agreed to permanently exit the Perth Hills and Mundaring Weir drinking water catchment!!
A huge thank you to EVERYONE who stood strong to protect our community and Country, and most importantly, our drinking water.
Now more than ever, we need to stand together to protect ALL forest drinking water catchments, including Serpentine and North and South Dandalup.
These dams are CRITICAL water capture, storage and distribution infrastructure. They not only capture 30% of our drinking water through streamflow, but they also store enormous quantities of our desalinated water and enable its distribution all over Perth, Kalgoorlie and the southwest. We NEED these dams to be protected FOREVER.
Here's some key facts:
โข Alcoa are mining in reservoir protection zones โ areas so sensitive to contamination that public access is completely prohibited. No camping, walking or riding for us, but ongoing large-scale land clearing and excavation by Alcoa. It does not make sense.
โข Alcoa want to build a pipeline to take our precious drinking water straight out of Serpentine dam for use in their mining operations.
โข The stateโs water provider, Water Corporation, has stated that if Alcoaโs high-risk mining continues, contamination of a drinking water dam is โcertainโ. Yet this advice was not incorporated into Alcoaโs operating conditions.
โข The risks presented by strip mining in drinking water catchments are enormous and potentially irreversible, including contamination from PFAS and hydrocarbons, rising salinity, reduced streamflow, increased erosion and sedimentation, and disrupted groundwater recharge.
โข While Alcoa has provided a $100 million financial assurance for emergency contamination response, Water Corporation is so concerned, that is has also raised replacing Serpentine Dam with a $1 billion desalination plant, underscoring both the scale of the risk and the potential cost to the public.
Our drinking water and forests are critical public assets. Decisions made now will have long-term consequences for environmental, cultural and community wellbeing.
At the same time, Alcoaโs social licence is rapidly collapsing - driven by unlawful forest clearing and licence breaches, disputed claims about rehabilitation, and rising community anger over destruction of the jarrah forest and risk to our drinking water catchments.
We are calling on the WA Government to ban mining within ALL forested drinking water catchments, including no further expansion and a phased withdrawal from existing areas, starting NOW.
If you want to add your voice, take two mins to send a few emails:
To the Premier:
[email protected]
To the Minister for Water:
[email protected]
To the Minister for Environment:
[email protected]
Your voice matters and together, we WILL make change that benefits us all ๐ณ๐งโค๏ธ
BIG SHOUT OUT TO:
Shire of Mundaring, City of Kalamunda, City of Armadale, Paige McNeil President Shire of Mundaring, Mayor Margaret Thomas - City of Kalamunda, Mayor Ruth Butterfield - City of Armadale, Adam Hort MLA, Jess Beckerling, Echo Newspaper, Jarrahdale Forest Protectors Inc, Peel Environmental Protection Alliance, Dwellingup Discovery Forest, Locals for Environmental Action & Protection (LEAP), Noongar Kaartdijin Aboriginal Corporation, Winjan Aboriginal Corporation, Conservation Council of WA, The Wilderness Society WA, WA Forest Alliance, Doctors for the Environment Australia Julimar Conservation and Forest Alliance, Save the Black Cockatoos, Northam Environmental Hub, Susannah Wooroloo Catchment Group Inc., Dudjabup Nature & Wildlife, Lower Helena Association, Nannas for Native Forests, Urban Bushland Council WA Inc, Australian Conservation Foundation, BirdLife Western Australia
..and so many others who stood with us, including 59,000 Western Australians who made a public submission โค๏ธ
๐๐ read the official letter in the comments!
