Integrated Water

Integrated Water Management
A major natural icon for Perth and the Perth Region is the Swan and Canning rivers, which include many tributaries such as Bennett, Ellen, Susannah, Jane, Wooroloo, Wungong and Yule brooks and the Helena, Brockman and Southern rivers.

Wetland systems in the Region include the Yellagonga and Beeliar wetlands, as well as many important lakes and swamps. There are also three Ramsar-listed wetlands, namely the Becher Point wetlands, Forrestdale Lake and Thompsons Lake. The lakes and wetlands are sites of significant biodiversity.

Groundwater is an increasingly important asset and falling groundwater levels are threatening the ecological values of many groundwater dependant ecosystems. Groundwater supplies the Perth Metropolitan Area with approximately half of its potable water requirements and maintains the ecological functions of lake, wetland and cave systems. Falling groundwater levels are largely due to reduced rainfall, however effects can also be managed through reducing the use of water in the superficial aquifer or by recharge.

The Perth Region NRM Strategy identifies incompatible development, inappropriate land and water management practices and population growth as the three key pressures threatening waterways, wetlands and groundwater in the Region. These have resulted in eutrophication of wetlands and waterways, biological and chemical pollution, erosion and sedimentation, increased salinity of waterways and wetlands, habitat loss and ecosystem fragmentation, drainage modifications, acidification and over-abstraction of groundwater.

Projects currently addressing these issues within the Integrated Water Management program are: