Water for Growth
Water underpins Western Australia's economy, supports its population and increases the liveability and amenity of our cities and towns. The state government's investment in water investigations supports plans for water resource and supply options to meet demand over the next 30 years. Water for Growth provides a roadmap of the work the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is doing throughout the state.
The climate in southern Western Australia has been drying and this trend is expected to continue. The state government recognises the need to continue long-term planning to secure water supplies for all water users and for the environment. An extensive program of scientific assessment, groundwater modelling and water supply planning is underway. This includes partnering with the three water service providers in the South West region (Water Corporation, Aqwest and Busselton Water) to plan for the scheme water needs of their customers that align with the State's growth projections and efficiency targets. Securing water resources for the South West provides an overview of the work the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is doing in the South West region. For further information on the water service providers' planning, refer to Water Forever: South West (Water Corporation) and media releases by Aqwest and Busselton Water.
Current water investigations add to decades of research, and the department now has an unprecedented level of information about our valuable water resources. The data is available online to allow our stakeholders to make water decisions for their projects with confidence.
The award-winning Water Information Reporting portal is a free, fully automated online service that provides instant access to over 115 000 water monitoring sites and more than 60 million measurements.
The Water Resources Inventory 2014 provides details about the state's groundwater and surface water resources – where each resource is located, how much water is available, its quality and the level of technical information held about it.
The Water Supply and Demand Outlook series looks at Western Australia’s available water supply and the projected demand for water to 2050. The series includes Water for Growth: Urban (June 2016) and Water for Growth: Agriculture (in prep). Outlook reports on water supply and demand in the heavy industry and mining sectors are also planned. The information provided in these reports is based on the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s Water Supply-Demand Model, made possible by funding from the state government’s Royalties for Regions ‘Regional water availability, planning and investigation program’.
The department also commissions expert technical reports to provide context and information on important topics, for example the potential of alternative supply approaches to meet demand for self-supplied (non-potable) water in the Perth-Peel region.
