National Water Account 2019

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Key findings

Climate and water

Water Accounting Statements

Supporting information

Region description

Reference information

Perth: Water rights

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.
• In January 2016, a policy was implemented requiring all licensees to have approved meters 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.
• The Water Corporation manages the bore fields and surface water storages within the Perth region for urban water supply. As part of its licence conditions, the Water Corporation is required to comply with operational strategies and report on environmental impacts.
• 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 conducts assessments to ensure licensees comply with licence conditions.
• 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).
• A licence to abstract water is not required for the following groundwater uses: fire-fighting; non-intensive stock use; domestic garden and lawn irrigation (not exceeding 0.2 hectares); and 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 surface water reservoirs 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

• 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.

• For irrigation scheme supply, Harvey Water considers the status of the irrigation supply storages to determine the allocation under Harvey Water's bulk water entitlement. Water 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

• The Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 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 allocation plans.

• Water allocation plans 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).

• 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.