Fair fees for water licensees
Released 18 Apr 2007
The Department of Water has confirmed that 82 per cent of the 13,000 existing water licensees in Western Australia will pay $325 or less a year when a Water Licensing Administration Fee is introduced from 1 July 2007.
The fee will help the Department of Water better manage the state's precious water resources.
The Department says the fee will only apply to individuals and entities that are already licensed to extract water generally for commercial purposes.
It will for the most part not affect domestic and stock users or include broad acre farm dams, and bores and dams used for domestic purposes.
Paul Frewer, Acting Director General with the Department of Water says the new fee structure is a better indication of what's involved in managing water allocations on a case-by-case basis across Western Australia.
"We're talking about an administration fee for licensed water users, based on the complexity and size of each allocation, to recover the cost of the assessment work; most would agree that's only fair and reasonable."
"I will over the coming weeks be writing to all licence holders providing them with details on how the fee will affect them," said Mr Frewer.
The introduction of a Water Licensing Administration Fee follows an extensive four year consultation process with community, business and industry stakeholders who by and large accept that a user pays model is needed to improve the management of water resources in Western Australia.
To find out more about the Water Licensing Administration Fees visit the Department of Water's website at www.water.wa.gov.au, or phone the Licensing Hotline on 1800 646 956.
Contact: Peter Collins
Phone: (08) 6364 6848 / 0434 603 441