"WA's water regulator is probing South32's impacts on neighbouring farmland" 23 December 2025

Drastic changes in salinity levels and water flows are being reported at farms neighbouring South32's Worsley bauxite mine in Western Australia.

In recent years, some properties have gone dry, while others have had rapid rises in groundwater levels, causing waterlogging and degradation of land.

Some residents attribute the hydrological changes to South32's nearby mining operations.

Russell Reynolds... [said] his spring-fed dam was almost undrinkable because of rising salinity.

In February this year, South32 received state and federal approval to increase its groundwater use from 500 million litres to 900 million litres a year...

Mr Reynolds blames his water issues on a series of major production bores, known as the Tunnell Road borefield...

From December last year to June this year, South32 drew an average of 665,000 litres per day from Tunnell Road bores...

[Reynolds] claims the dam's total dissolved solids (TDS) level jumped from 180 milligrams per litre (mg/L) in 2014 to 1,100mg/L in 2025.

Anything above 1,200 mg/L is considered unacceptable for drinking, according to national drinking water guidelines...

The ABC has seen evidence of salinity levels in dams increasing by more than 100 per cent in four years on other nearby farming properties...

South32 issued a brief statement noting it was aware of the "matters that have been raised" but did not respond directly...

South32's 2020 groundwater study concluded declining rainfall was primarily responsible for rising salinity, not bauxite mining...

Mr Reynolds argues his experience challenges that finding, and the impact on his property constitutes a breach of environmental conditions set on South32's Worsley mine expansion.