More towns in the Wheatbelt will harvest storm water run off after a $2 million funding boost from the State government. The Department of Agriculture and Food WA has announced the new money through Royalties for Regions. Wheatbelt NRM will manage the project by working with local towns to capture and use storm water run off. Wheatbelt NRM CEO Natarsha Woods said any Wheatbelt town with a water plan was eligible to apply from Morawa south to Pingelly and east to Southern Cross. “Projects like these help save thousands of litres of precious scheme water that is expensive to treat and pipe,” Natarsha Woods said. A survey of 35 Wheatbelt towns by the Department of Water in 2011 revealed most shires were already recycling water, but wanted to do more. “The funding could go towards infrastructure to better utilise storm water run off including dams, tanks and reticulation,” Natarsha Woods said. “We’ve already seen an example of at project doing just that in Brookton, where a dam was built to store storm water run off. “That water was then used on school gardens and sporting facilities and has saved hundreds of thousands of litres of scheme water.” Funding for the project was announced this week in Brookton. Media contact: Natarsha Woods, Wheatbelt NRM CEO 9690 2250