WESTERN AUSTRALIA: MANAGING WATER
carefully managing groundwater abstraction, Perth and South West water supplies are secure and will sustain current and future use. One of the largest groundwater investigations in Western Australia since the 1970s, taking place North of Perth in Gingin, is underway to calculate how much groundwater is available in the area and how much can be used.
This good quality fresh water source is in high demand for a variety of uses including agriculture, horticulture, mining, industry and also for future public water supply for the rapidly expanding urban growth corridor north of Perth.
New water sources around the State have also been found to support growth of regional towns into cities – from Albany in the Great Southern, to Port Hedland in the north-west mining town of Pilbara.
It’s an exciting time to be working with water in Western Australia, a time that requires vision, innovation and drive.
Inside the Advanced Water Recycling Plant
huge stretches of lawn that are never walked on are things of the past. Instead these places are now part of the urban water solution, providing green areas that are water wise, acting as bio-filters, and recharging shallow groundwater for local use. The approach to parkland planning and design, and the options available for water sources, storage, irrigation systems and landscaping are all being rethought.
Planning for the future The Department of Water, Water Corporation and the Department of Sport and Recreation have collaborated with turf industries, planners, urban designers and local governments to develop the Public Parkland Planning and Design Guide that responds to the unique
challenges and parkland needs of Western Australia in the 21st century. This effective approach to water use makes liveable communities achievable even with limited groundwater supply. It also brings together the many areas of government into a unified direction. In planning for Western Australia’s future water supplies, the Department of Water draws on the best available projected climate information from the Indian Ocean Climate Initiative, the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.
It feeds this information into its water supply and water allocation planning. The State has already responded to climate changes by factoring reductions in future rainfall into groundwater system allocation
limits and will need to continue to do so. To improve the precision of this vital control for future water plans, a climate modelling tool specific to Western Australia has been developed.
This is extremely important as sustainability of existing water entitlements equal security for businesses and the community that rely on that water. The knowledge of what happens elsewhere in the nation and the world, when water is over-allocated on paper, drives the planning.
While the drying climate is impacting water resources, through a combination of good planning to develop a mix of sources, water efficiency and alternative supplies such as desalination, recycled water, managed aquifer recharge, and
The adaptation by government and the community to the drying climate around Perth is something Western Australians can be proud of. Continuing to advance the learning based on solid science and sound management, and with the help of Federal funding, will enable the use of natural water resources in these underground ‘reservoirs’ to advance the State, and its contribution to the entire nation.
Endnotes
1. Source History of Hydrography in Western Australia – Till The Stream Runs Dry pg 7. 2. Ibid 3. Source Water Corporation fact sheet Charles Yelverton O’Connor 1843-1902 4. Assessing the value of groundwater Mars- den Jacob Associates Waterlines Report Series No 89, September 2012 pg 54. 5.
http://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate- change/climate-science/climate-change- impacts/western-australia 6.
http://www.csiro.au/Organisation- Structure/Flagships/Water-for-a-Healthy- Country-Flagship/Sustainable-Yields-Projects/
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