LAST week, Water Minister Simone McGurk launched the third waterwise action plan for Perth and Peel, which includes projects in the Shire of Mundaring and City of Swan.
The plan is part of the state government’s strategy to deal with the impacts of climate change and build a more water-secure WA.
Under the program so far, Ms McGurk said Western Australians were using 24 billion litres less water than before the project was implemented.
Named Kep Katitjin – Gabi Kaadadjan after Noongar words for water knowledge, the waterwise action plan includes projects around the state to conserve water and lower water usage in both residential and commercial settings.
The third plan builds on the two preceding plans with eight new initiatives and 35 ongoing projects, including the Swan Valley north-east corridor groundwater investigation to locate and define the groundwater capacity of the Swan Valley area.
Ongoing projects also include the Gnangara waterwise councils’ grants scheme, which provides up to $4 million over four years until 2025 to support local government projects that improve water efficiency and urban cooling.
The aim is to help councils meet the target set in the 2022 Gnangara groundwater allocation plan for a 10 per cent reduction in groundwater use by 2028.
Using this funding, Town of Bassendean applied eco-zoning to cut down on areas of irrigated turf at Success Hill and Mary Crescent reserves, installing mulch and planting trees, and the City of Swan applied hydro-zoning and renewed all irrigation at Lilac Hill’s northern oval, as well as Ron Jose and Ballajura ovals.
They aim to reduce groundwater use at these sites by 15 to 20 per cent, about 7000 to 10,000kL per oval.
City of Swan Mayor Tanya Richardson said hydro zoning involved adjusting irrigation systems to suit the plants and usage of the space.
“This involves identifying and adjusting irrigation systems to create new watering zones based on vegetation type and use, replacing old sprinklers with modern water-efficient sprinklers and removing irrigation in natural bushland areas,” she said.
“We consider hydro zoning principles when we develop or renew landscaping assets, including the annual residential tree planting project, where preference is given to planting native, drought-resistant species that only need to be watered during the establishment period.”
Mrs Richardson said audits on irrigation systems have also been completed as part of the city’s water conservation plan to replace and retrofit inefficient water systems in actively used reserves.
The splash of colour program has also been in action since 2017 and has included artworks in Mundaring and Wattle Grove. The program aims to strengthen community connection to water and water stories by commissioning local artists to paint murals on Water Corporation infrastructure like electrical boxes and pump stations.
Ms McGurk said new initiatives demonstrated the state government’s commitment to increasing WA’s climate adaptation and resilience.
“Our award-winning waterwise program has been embraced by Western Australians, and the launch of the third waterwise action plan will continue and strengthen important work underway to transform Perth and Peel into leading waterwise communities,” she said.
“Waterwise action plan three forms part of the state government’s response to tackle the impacts of climate change with many of the plan’s actions seeking to improve biodiversity, urban greening and tree canopy – supporting urban cooling across our Perth and Peel regions.”
