Water resources - Management and Development - Western Australia
Western Australia
What are the key water resource management issues facing Western Australia?
The Audit sustainable yield figures anticipate a substantial allocation to the environment, particularly in the Kimberley, where most of the State's wild rivers are located. Western Australia will continue to make planned environmental reservations of high value streams and rivers a central part of its water allocation process. Likewise, the State will extend its pioneering work on environmental water provisions for groundwater.
Water allocation and use has largely been kept within sustainable limits despite a doubling of demand growth since Review 85. About a third of the State's surface and groundwater resource systems are at a high or fully committed level of use.
Most of the State's surface and groundwater resources are being managed at an appropriate level. However there is a significant base load of 'catch up' work for the larger fully committed systems to review their environmental provisions and sustainable limits in accordance with post water reform practice.
Rapid growth in self supplied surface water use is a significant issue. Although relatively small in resource scale, these developments are particularly demanding on staff time in settling disputes, etc
Water use in the State is likely to double again in the next 20 years. This continued rapid growth in demand coupled with the base load of 'catch up' management work suggests a very substantial task ahead in maintaining processes which ensure sustainable use.
Sustainable limits will need to be set conservatively unless development proponents can demonstrate that detailed environmental water provisions have been determined and can be met.
The recent water law reform activity in WA has increased community awareness of water allocation matters. This trend is expected to continue with stakeholders and community groups becoming more actively involved in water allocation processes.
The State is actively working towards water markets in selected areas where competition for fully allocated water resources is strengthening. These are predominantly in Perth and the South West Irrigation District. New water markets are likely to emerge in these and other areas of the State over the next 20 years as more resources become fully committed. This will require a strong and well maintained water allocation database.
Increasing efficiency in water use is expected to accompany the development of water markets. Likewise reuse of wastewater and use of brackish water will become more economic in areas such as Perth.
Surface water resource management in Western Australia
Map of Western Australia's surface water management areas
Select a point on the map to find out more about that surface water management area.
The review of surface water resources by category of utilisation is an assessment of water resource status in respect to level and sustainability of allocation and use. Such categorisation is the Audit's prime indicator of the actual physical state of resources in relation to sustainability of use. In broad terms, the Audit shows a satisfactory physical state.
However, to ensure ongoing sustainability, improved practices have evolved under recent water reform and other influences.
As part of the Audit process, a standardised checklist of management responses has been established. This checklist presents the Commission's (reform) process goals for allocation and resource management which escalate according to Category of resource utilisation. These responses are set out under three prime criteria namely:
- Resource Investigation and Monitoring
- Allocation Planning & Sustainable Limits
- Management of Use
An audit against these criteria is thus, primarily, an audit of management process and goals against reform standards for ensuring sustainability. It is not an audit of sustainability per se. Given that the reforms are recent, whereas allocation has taken place historically under an evolutionary process, the processes by which past allocation has been achieved must be expected to fall short of the reform standard. This gap creates a management workload which needs to be addressed to bring practice up to date.
The analysis indicates that for at least 55% of the allocated surface water resource there is a significant gap between the processes that established current allocation and the current reform practice. The management response gaps are most significant in the South West Division. Most of these relate to major water supply reservoirs allocated at their sustainable limit.
Resources with larger management gaps are typically small in volume and include some of the self-supplied sources of the South West which are proving demanding in the regulatory sense.
In due course, the sub-areas areas where gaps occur will receive review of their sustainable yield and environmental provisions in accordance with post-water reform practice. Priority will need to focus on the smaller number of larger or potentially sensitive resources in which there is a gap in management response or concerns of potential environmental stress. This represents a significant base load of catch up work, even without the demands of increasing use.
Groundwater resource management in Western Australia
Map of Western Australia's Groundwater Provinces
Select a point on the map to find out more about that groundwater province.
A standardised checklist of management responses has been established against which current management performance was assessed. This checklist presents the Commission's (reform) process goals for allocation and resource management, which escalate according to Category of resource utilisation. These responses are set out under three prime criteria namely:
- Resource Investigation and Monitoring
- Allocation Planning & Sustainable Limits
- Management of Use
For the about 45 % of groundwater in use, or 49 Groundwater Management Units, there is a gap between the processes which established and manage current allocation, and the criteria used in the audit to represent the desired management response levels. This gap relates to process rather than to on-the-ground sustainability, which has been shown favourably in the previous section.
As with surface water, the management gaps reflect the recent innovations which reform processes have introduced to allocation management. High profile allocations of groundwater in WA are models, albeit costly ones, for meeting reform standards in environmental allocation processes. However, a good deal of historical groundwater allocation management has succeeded through precautionary processes which did not contain all the elements of the reform models which are important to ensuring future sustainability under growing demand.
These response gaps are a key issue for review following from the Audit. This represents a significant base load of catch up work, even without the demands of increasing use.
In priority terms there are some Groundwater Management Units with important management response issues which are highlighted and placed in overall context by the Audit activity.
Further information
- Western Australia Water Resources Assessment 2000 Report
- Western Australia Water Resources Assessment 2000 Technical Report
- Link to data available for download on the:
- Link to the Map Maker to make a map using this information.
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