Government of Western Australia Department of Water Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy Helping to achieve a secure water supply on the south coast June 2010 Department of Water 168 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia PO Box K822 Perth Western Australia 6842 Phone: 08 6364 7600 Fax: 08 6364 7601 www.water.wa.gov.au 6860 200 0610 Looking after all our water needs Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy Helping to achieve a secure water supply on the south coast Looking after all our water needs Department of Water June 2010 i Department of Water 168 St Georges Terrace Perth Western Australia 6000 Telephone +61 8 6364 7600 Facsimile +61 8 6364 7601 www.water.wa.gov.au © Government of Western Australia 2010 June 2010 This work is copyright. 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More Information For further information, please contact the Department of Water’s South Coast office at: 5 Bevan Street Albany Western Australia 6330 Telephone: +61 8 9842 5760 Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy Contents Contents iii 1 Executive Summary 1 1.1 Purpose of this strategy 1 Advice to government 2 Guidance to Water Corporation 2 Advice to the community 2 Inform future management and planning 2 1.2 Summary of advice on water source development 3 Assisting responsible development 3 Improving supply security 3 Providing guidance for planning and developing water resources 4 2 Introduction 7 2.1 How our future water supplies are developed 7 What’s happening right now? 7 Role of the Water Corporation 8 Role of the Department of Water 8 Water Planning Framework 9 Next Steps of planning 10 Phase 1 – strategic planning 10 Phase 2 – detailed planning 10 Phase 3 – option delivery 10 2.2 The current status of water supplies 11 Water resources assessment - pre feasibility 15 Pattern of reducing rainfall 15 3 Addressing our key water resource issues 16 3.1 Objective 1 – Assist responsible development 17 3.2 Objective 2 – Improving supply security 20 3.3 Objective 3 – Providing guidance for planning and developing water sources 22 iii Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy 4 Implementation of this strategy 24 Phase 1 – strategic planning 25 Phase 2 – detailed planning 26 Phase 3 – development planning and licensing 27 References 30 Appendices Appendix A — Approach to planning and source development 25 Appendix B — Preliminary assessment of ecological values 29 Figures Figure 1 Study area 6 Figure 2 Western Australian water planning framework 9 Figure 3 Potential groundwater areas (Kern 2007) 14 Figure 4 National parks and water reserves (DEC 2008) 18 Tables Table 1 Town water supply providers 11 Table 2 Town water usage and source capacity 12 Table 3 Projected increase in population growth and water demand in key localities in the Albany to Walpole area over the next 20 years 13 Table 4 Key considerations for broad analysis of options 25 Table 5 Key considerations for a detailed investigation to determine feasibility of a particular water source 26 Table 6 Addressing development, licensing and operational issues 27 iv Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy 1 Executive summary 1.1 Purpose of this strategy Albany, Denmark and Walpole need to find new water sources to meet existing demand as well as satisfy future growth predictions. Finding the next source to provide short- and long-term needs has become a priority for Government1. Both the Water Corporation as the service provider, and the Department of Water as the state’s water resources manager, need to solve this problem. The Water Corporation has begun a process, to develop options through its Water Forever initiative. The Department of Water (the department) has been undertaking research and planning for a future water source for a considerable time. It has prepared this strategy to provide advice to stakeholders as identified below. 1. Throughout this strategy the term ‘Government’ is capitalised to denote the Government of the day, as opposed to the broader administration. 1 Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy Advice to Government This strategy: • provides independent advice to Government on water source development within the Lower Great Southern region (Figure 1). Guidance to Water Corporation This strategy: • provides a framework to guide source development, and explains the department’s expectations for each stage of planning • provides statements that service providers need to consider when proposing new source options. Advice to the community This strategy: • provides the community with the broader government perspective of source development and helps explain the department’s likely position on new source options • helps the community understand how water resources will be developed so they can be confident in the decisions made about their water security, local environment and water resources • provides an opportunity for input while recognising that the department, water service providers, the government as a whole and the community all have a role in new source development. Inform future management and planning This strategy: • explains the department’s regulatory and planning role as the state’s water resource manager. • informs future management and planning such as allocation plans, source protection plans, salinity recovery plans, and land-use advice. The strategy identifies three phases of planning required for water resource development and details the issues and information expected for each of these phases. 2 Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy 1.2 Summary of advice on water development and maintenance (e.g. plant source development sites and long distance pipelines). The Environmental Protection Authority may decide The following statements summarise the specific to consider such issues in any assessment of statements of advice identified throughout the a development. document. The remaining document provides 6. Increased levels of management, including information to support these position statements. monitoring, reporting and compliance need Considered collectively, these position statements to be introduced as water demand escalates should guide the Water Corporation and Government (placing pressure on water availability) to in planning and decision making on new water source ensure responsible development and options in the Lower Great Southern region. ongoing use. Assisting responsible development Improving supply security 1. Sources with demonstrated high ecological 7. Security of supply means appropriate planning values should, generally, be left in their natural and approval mechanisms are considered state and not be developed. Substantial social in an integrated way for short-, medium- and or economic grounds would be required long-term options. before consideration of new water source development in the high-value areas identified 8. Reliability of a source must be included in in Appendix B. determining the sustainability of an option. 2. Risk assessment of potential new sources 9. Long-term planning (25 years) should include will be undertaken to inform decisions on investigation, approval and development acceptable impacts to the environment. timelines. Planning must recognise that Sufficient time for investigation and assessment despite detailed assessments, some water should be included in any development plan. source options may become unviable due to improved technologies, regulatory decisions 3. Where additional fit-for-purpose water is over time, or changes to water availability. available from existing sources it should be In that event, alternative or replacement used before new sources are developed in options must be available. In addition, options order to minimise environmental impacts. discarded during the analysis phase may become viable in the future. Long-term plans 4. Sources with lower environmental risk are should be reviewed at least every five years to preferred over those with a higher risk. adapt to new information from investigations and changes in demand. 5. The wider environmental impacts of potential new sources must be considered and fully account for carbon footprints (energy requirements) associated with source 3 Lower Great Southern water resource development strategy 10. Contingency options must