Greens (WA) Water Spokesperson Alison Xamon MLC today released an action plan for reversing the decline of the Swan and Canning rivers due to excessive build-up of nutrients.
"Perth's urban drain network is a major source of the excessive loads of nitrogen and phosphorous entering the Swan-Canning rivers," Ms Xamon said.
"For too long, responsibility for the drains has been a grey area with the main arterial network owned by Water Corporation, and the much larger local drain network managed by local governments.
The Greens today supported a call from the WA Farmers Federation which has called for farmers to be given a right to veto fracking on their agricultural land.
Greens WA spokesperson for Water, Alison Xamon said the farmers’ voices against fracking were a welcome addition to the discussion.
Ms Xamon said the Greens had a long-standing policy supporting the right of landowners to veto mining on their property, and had in fact introduced exactly such legislation, which had not received the support of other parties.
The Greens are pushing for an inquiry into the Department of Water following a four-year investigation that found the DOW was failing to protect or even properly monitor groundwater use. Following the results of the investigation, Greens water spokesperson Alison Xamon MLC has launched the Greens’ Groundwater Management Action Plan. “This Action Plan includes a nine-point process outlining how and why we must improve the management of our
A new Department of Water report has confirmed warnings made repeatedly by the Greens that too much groundwater is being drawn from the Gnangara Mound.
“The Department of Water is obliged to report triennially to the Environmental Protection Authority on its management of environmental criteria on Gnangara Mound and as I feared, the report shows that the Department’s compliance with those environmental criteria has deteriorated over the past three years, largely due to over-abstraction,” Greens Water Spokesperson Alison Xamon MLC said.
The Greens have identified ways to potentially save more drinking water through conservation efforts than the combined output of the Kwinana and Binningup desalination plants .
The Greens Smart With Water Action Plan is based on comprehensive research and shows that simple measures like providing incentives for greywater plumbing for homes; expanding managed aquifer recharge; increasing the use of treated waste water by industry; and rolling out more smart meters could save up to 260 billion litres a year by 2029.
WA Greens Water Spokesperson Alison Xamon MLC says smart water meters, not more desalination plants, must be amongst the measures to avoid a future water crisis in WA.
Commenting on the latest results of a trial of smart water meters in Kalgoorlie, Ms Xamon said the nearly one billion litre annual water-saving resulting from a $4 million investment in the new technology shows that the household water-use measuring devices are a cheaper option in the long-term than desalination.
5861. Hon Alison Xamon to the Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Water
I refer to the Minister for Water’s recent announcement that the Federal Environment Minister has approved Western Australia’s implementation plan for the National Framework for Compliance and Enforcement Systems for Water Resource Management, and I ask —
683. Hon ALISON XAMON to the minister representing the Minister for Water:
I refer to the Water Corporation’s annual abstraction from the combined Gnangara and Jandakot groundwater systems.
(1) Has the Water Corporation made a request under the variable groundwater abstraction rule to abstract water from the combined Gnangara and Jandakot groundwater systems?
5985. Hon Alison Xamon to the Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Environment
I refer to the Mills Street main drain’s continuing failure to meet long term total nitrogen and total phosphorous targets. I also refer to the CSIRO’s recommendation to monitor nutrient speciation in effective best management practice evaluation, and I ask —
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The Greens are pushing for an inquiry into the Department of Water following a four-year investigation that found the DOW was failing to protect or even properly monitor groundwater use.