- Community research project to help guide CY O'Connor's Goldfields Pipeline heritage preservation
- Strong focus on recording stories and memories from Aboriginal communities along the pipeline
- Sections of the 120-year-old pipeline reaching the end of service life
- Long-term upgrades vital to secure Goldfields' safe and reliable water supply
Memories and stories of the Goldfields Pipeline are being sought for a major community-led research project to help preserve the 120-year-old pipeline's heritage and tourism value.
Commencing late August, the 'Stories in the Pipeline' project aims to record a history of the public's interactions with CY O'Connor's iconic pipeline, which conveys drinking water 566km from Mundaring Weir to the Eastern Goldfields.
The project will span pre-colonial to modern times and, in liaison with Aboriginal consultants, have a strong focus on exploring the role of Aboriginal people in the development of the pipeline, and the impacts on Aboriginal lands, culture and heritage.
Other anticipated story themes include: establishment of private and market gardens; Muslim cameleers and their transport routes linking with the pipeline; arrival of abattoirs; management of diseases and hygiene; and the contributions of immigrants, among others.
As well as helping identify heritage and tourism-related opportunities, the project will inform where original pipe will be retained for heritage purposes, as old sections are progressively replaced with modern below-ground pipe over the next 70 years.
These long-term upgrades are essential to secure a safe and reliable water supply into the future, as the above-ground pipe reaches the end of its service life, enabling more efficient and cost-effective operation and maintenance.
Responses to the 'Stories in the Pipeline' project will be collated via online surveys, interviews, focus groups, school and community outreach, and story collections via written submissions.
Once finalised, the project will inform the preparation of a heritage interpretation strategy and management plan that will be open for public comment, expected by early-2024.
Stories, memories and photos related to the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme can be submitted via Water Corporation's project partner: hharchitects.com.au/pipeline-stories
