Perth: Water rights
Water in the region can only be taken from designated water management areas when a licence is issued. Licences to take water for consumptive use are administered by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Unless restrictions are announced, water may be taken up to the maximum volume specified on the licence.
For further geographic information about the region scroll down this page or click on the links below:
Operating rules and constraints
Control of water abstraction within the Perth region is exercised by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation through allocation planning and licensing arrangements. Water can be abstracted from designated surface and groundwater management areas within the region when a licence has been issued. In January 2016, a new policy was implemented where all licensees are required to have approved meters for abstracting water and to report the amount of water abstracted to the department (Department of Water, 2016). The policy is being implemented in a staged approach over 5 years from 1 February 2016. Previously, only licensees with annual allocations of greater than 500 ML were required to have approved meters.
The Water Corporation manages the bore fields and surface water storages within the Perth region for urban water supply. As part of its licensing arrangements, the Water Corporation is required to comply with operational strategies, which include reporting on environmental impacts.
In the Perth region, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation manages all water restrictions, including domestic garden bore use. Further information can be found on the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation website.
Water entitlements and other statutory water rights
Under the Western Australian Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 a licence is required to abstract water in proclaimed surface water and groundwater areas. The Act also requires all artesian bores to be licensed for their construction and the abstraction of water.
Licences to abstract water are administered by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Licences usually specify the conditions, length of tenure, and the maximum volume of water that may be abstracted. This volume is referred to as the water entitlement. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation conduct assessments to ensure licensees comply with licence conditions.
The maximum volume of water that may be abstracted annually for agricultural use is determined by applying a standard volume per hectare for the particular crop to the number of hectares to be irrigated.
The Act has provisions for water abstraction under a riparian right, which is a right to abstract water for specific uses attached to land ownership (e.g., stock and domestic use). It is not itself a 'right to use water'.
A licence to abstract water is not required for the following groundwater uses:
- fire-fighting purposes
- cattle or other stock, other than those being raised under intensive conditions
- domestic garden and lawn irrigation (not exceeding 0.2 hectares)
- short-term dewatering activities where small volumes of water are abstracted from the water table aquifer (usually for building construction).
Harvey Water Irrigation Scheme
Harvey Water holds a bulk water licence to abstract water that is stored in, and released from, surface water storages owned by the Water Corporation.
Harvey Water's legal right to bulk water is transferred to owners who have an equity entitlement to water via their shareholding in the Harvey Water Irrigation Cooperative. Members of the Harvey Water Irrigation Scheme hold shares in the cooperative and a corresponding certificate of water entitlement that is proportional to their shareholding.
Water allocations
As discussed in Water entitlements, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation issues licences that specify a maximum volume of water that may be abstracted. Unless restrictions are announced, water may be abstracted up to the maximum volume specified on the licence, that is, water allocations are generally assumed to equal 100% of the annual water entitlement. More details are provided on the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation website.
For irrigation scheme supply, Harvey Water considers the status of the irrigation supply storages to determine the water available for allocation under Harvey Water's bulk water entitlement. Water allocated to Harvey Water under its entitlement is then made available to individual members of the Harvey Water Irrigation Cooperative under the conditions set out in its rules.
Trades and water rights transfers
Water market rules: interstate trading
The Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 does not permit interstate trade.
Water market rules: inter-valley and within-valley trading
The Act permits the trading or transferring of licences, but only within the same water management area, and subject to compliance with the other conditions of the Act and other administrative issues. Trades or transfers cannot be made between different water management areas.
Water allocation plans also include rules for trading such as limitations on trading to within allocation subareas or between particular subareas, and limitations on trading of entitlements which have not been used (sleeper licences). All current allocation plans for the Perth region can be accessed at the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation website.
Members of the Harvey Water Irrigation Cooperative can trade their water allocations in accordance with the cooperative's rules, provided both parties are members of the cooperative. Members are prevented from trading water directly with parties outside the cooperative. For more details, please refer to the Harvey Water website.
Restrictions on trade
No restrictions on water trades in addition to those described above were in place during the 2016–17 year.