2016_Water Innovation Advisory Group Report

Water Innovation

Advisory Group report

November 2016

Foreword

Water is essential for enabling our communities to flourish, our economy to prosper and our environment to thrive. Due to population growth and a drying climate, water resources in Western Australia are under increasing pressure. At the same time, there is growing recognition of the opportunities that can be realised through innovation. Using innovative approaches, especially through partnerships, we can work across sectors and organisations, to explore new opportunities and make further gains.

This report highlights the State Government’s strong focus on innovation. Since May 2016 this commitment has been underpinned by an innovation package that seeks to position Western Australia as an innovation hub of regional calibre. It will enhance collaboration between business, universities and the research sector to capitalise on technology and commercialise the best and brightest ideas. It will also engage key business leaders and local innovators to develop a formal Innovation Strategy for Western Australia.

In this report, the Water Innovation Advisory Group (‘the Advisory Group’) identifies opportunities that can be realised through innovation and acknowledges the many innovative programs and promising techniques under investigation in the water sector today.

Using innovative approaches and new ways of doing business, we can work across sectors and organisations to harness new opportunities and make further gains. Through innovation we can secure the state’s future prosperity, make our cities and towns more productive, resilient and liveable, preserve the environment and ensure the viability of the industries that support the people of Western Australia.

The Advisory Group found great interest in innovation throughout the sector. We were heartened by the enthusiasm of the industry and community to engage on this issue and to provide their thoughts and ideas. Through workshops, roundtables and online discussions, stakeholders contributed over 800 individual ideas. This participation was a great resource to the Advisory Group in developing our findings and understanding the opportunities and barriers to innovation.

In summary, we found that there is potential for innovation in Western Australia—if traditional barriers can be overcome. The group considers that addressing these barriers will create space for innovation to thrive.

I would like to thank every contributor for their input, and hope that the directions outlined in this overview and subsequent report support the water future you seek. I look forward to seeing these ideas realised, and to Western Australia being recognised as a leader in water innovation.

Finally, I offer my sincere thanks to members of the Advisory Group for their valued and valuable contributions.

Matt Taylor MLA

Chair Water Innovation Advisory Group Member for Bateman Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for State Development; Transport; Innovation

Executive Summary

This report outlines the recommendations of the Water Innovation Advisory Group (‘the Advisory Group’) to the Minister for Water. It considers opportunities, constraints and future directions for innovation in the water sector.

To inform this report, the Advisory Group ran a series of consultation events with stakeholders that included an engagement website, a series of workshops, roundtable meetings and phone interviews.

A key message is that many innovative approaches are currently being applied to the water sector in Western Australia. In some cases, not all stakeholders are aware of these developments, which may act as a barrier to innovation, limiting the opportunity to build upon success. In other areas, there is a need to embed innovative approaches that have been successfully trialled, and convert these to standard practice.

This report identifies a path that will drive innovation in the water sector. With the implementation of new approaches, technologies and processes, Western Australians can look forward to a future where water is truly valued for the social, economic and environmental benefits it brings. Proposed new systems and modes of operation will ensure efficiency, availability and accountability across the sector. The aim is to deliver water that is ‘fit-for-purpose’— matching water of a certain quality to a use appropriate for that quality. Timely, transparent information is a critical step in reaching this goal.

Key opportunities exist through the delivery of water-sensitive cities, enhanced wastewater recycling, non-drinking water systems, renewable energy sources in the water cycle, and improved water ‘literacy’. There is also a need to optimise regional water supplies and services for towns, agriculture and industry, and to provide support for new technologies and platforms to improve data collection, analysis and presentation.

This report provides a resource to the Department of Water, as a component of its Water Innovation Program, and will focus and direct future innovation work.

Recommendations developed by the Advisory Group are listed in the following categories:

• Supplementing scheme water supply

• Addressing the water–energy nexus

• Delivering liveable cities

• Managing precious resources

• Community awareness of water

• Water in the regions

• Improved data and information sharing

• Western Australia’s water future

The recommendations are provided in Appendix A.

1. Introduction

In October 2015 the Minister for Water, the Hon. Mia Davies MLA, announced the Water Innovation Program, which emphasises innovation through partnerships—government working with industry, local government and communities to drive creative solutions.

The Water Innovation program seeks to build on Western Australia’s progress in water source development and demand management over the past decade, and innovation to date. In 2003, in response to several years of low rainfall, the State Government prepared a state water strategy. This presented a whole-of-government approach to the management of water, supported by a range of initiatives including targets for water consumption. Led by the Water Corporation, Western Australia was the first state to implement large-scale desalination, and the Water Corporation’s groundwater replenishment trial and full scheme are an Australian first. However, stronger partnerships and a broader range of stakeholders are needed to foster and deliver more creative solutions to water resource management issues.

In the context of this report, ‘innovation’ is defined as changing or creating more effective processes, products and ideas. It can be achieved through design, technology or approach, via policy, partnerships or facilitation, or through regulation. The aim of this report is to consider ways to progress some innovations that have demonstrated success but not become mainstream, and to canvas creative solutions. Rather than focus on infrastructure alone, it addresses management of the total water cycle in urban, regional and rural settings.

This report forms a component of the Water Innovation program. It has been prepared by the Water Innovation Advisory Group comprising Mr Matt Taylor MLA (Chair), Dr Julian Bolleter, Mr Josh Byrne, Mr Bill Grace, Dr Paul Hardisty, Professor Peter Klinken, and Ms Shelley Shepherd,1 supported by the Department of Water (Mr Mike Rowe), for consideration by the Minister for Water.

Inputs to this report were sought from the water industry and community through two main channels:

• the Water Innovation website, which enabled online conversations relating to water innovation (statements and questions were posted to generate discussions on topics such as urban and regional water)

• a series of workshops and roundtable discussions, summarised in Appendix B

1 Biographies of the Advisory Group members are provided at http://www.water.wa.gov.au/planning-for-the-future/ innovation/water-innovation-advisory-group

1.1 Drivers for innovation in water

The key drivers for innovation in water management and use are a changing climate, increasing population, urbanisation and economic growth. These present both opportunities and challenges for water innovation.

Climate change is affecting water resources in Western Australia through increases in temperatures, changes in the timing and distribution of rainfall, droughts of increasing duration and severity, reduced streamflows and decreased rates of groundwater recharge, and impacts on ecosystems.

To minimise the costs of climate change in the future, sound scientific knowledge is needed to underpin decision making and solutions. Extreme weather events have an enormous social and economic cost for Australia. In the last four years, hundreds of lives have been lost as a result of bushfires, heatwaves, floods and cyclones. Insurance claims, infrastructure repair, and lost productivity have cost the economy tens of billions of dollars.’2

The climate is getting hotter and the southwest of Western Australia is getting less rain, which is putting pressure on rivers and aquifers. While some winters have been wetter than others, rain in the south-west has been declining (17 per cent since 19703) and streamflow to south-west reservoirs has declined by more than 50 per cent. There is

a high degree of agreement among climate models (over 90 per cent) that the southwest will continue to experience a drying trend in future.

The south-west is a global biodiversity hotspot that is highly sensitive to extreme events and increasing global temperatures. Increased average temperatures are likely to result in significant impacts on community health, particularly for vulnerable sectors of the community, as well as on biodiversity and the health of ecosystems, reducing amenity and diversity in urban and rural environments4. Predictions for climate change impacts in the central and northwest parts of Western Australia are less clear, with about half the models predicting increased rainfall, and half predicting decreased rainfall. However, there is likely to be an increase in intense rainfall events5,6

At the same time, demand for water is increasing. Water for growth: urban7 estimates that at least an additional 250 gigalitres (GL) per year will be needed for urban areas by 2050 to meet growth in demand from households, parks and gardens, and to produce goods and services. In some areas of Perth, the availability of groundwater for irrigation of public open space is already limited and our ability to deliver liveable cities may be compromised. The efficient use of local groundwater, stormwater and wastewater can help maintain green spaces, reduce urban heat, and reduce pressure on public scheme supplies7. As stated by the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities:

2 http://www.csiro.au/en/Research/OandA/Areas/Assessing-our-climate/Climate-adaptation-research

3 http://www.law.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/2568423/Report-with-ISBN-1-9-14.pdf

4 Department of Water 2015, Selection of future climate projections for Western Australia, Water Science Technical Series, report no.72, Department of Water, Western Australia

5 Department of Water 2015, Selection of future climate projections for Western Australia, Water Science Technical Series, report no.72, Department of Water, Western Australia

6 Waterson, I et al. 2015, Rangelands Cluster Report, Climate Change in Australia Projections for Australia’s Natural Resource Management Regions: Cluster Reports, ed. Ekstrom, M et al., CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology Australia

7 http://www.water.wa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/8521/110200.pdf

Australian cities and towns are grappling with the question of how to use water management as a means of delivering better liveability outcomes and broader benefits in relation to water security, flood risk, biodiversity, public open space, healthy waterways, productive and connected communities8

Across the range of sectors, water use is increasing. Agriculture in Western Australia uses about 590 GL per year or 32 per cent of the state’s total water use. Water usage in agriculture is expected to more than double by 2050, utilising large volumes of water available in the north and reshaping the way we use water in the south as the climate dries9. Similarly, with the mining boom came an unprecedented surge in demand from the mining sector, which now accounts for 31% of the state’s total water abstraction10 Industry has also grown to support

downstream processing of the extracted minerals. The forecasts from the Department of Water’s modelling indicate that annual demand for water will grow from its current level of 1,850 gigalitres to between 2,900 and 3,900 gigalitres by 204510

1.2 The water cycle

Water is essential to human wellbeing. All water for community and economic use is sourced from the environment and is eventually returned to the environment. Innovation opportunities therefore relate not only to what we use water for but to the manner in which it moves through the water cycle in a continuous process of:

• collection, storage, treatment and distribution of water to its place of use

• post-use treatment, reuse and / or discharge of water.

Storage / Treatment / Distribution

8 CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, Shaping Perth as a Water Sensitive City (2015)

9 Department of Water, Water for Growth: Agriculture (draft)

10 Department of Water, Water sector outlook – an overview (2015)

Figure 1 The water cycle is essential to the maintenance of life and ecosystems on Earth

Excluding the long-term embodiment of water in plants, animals and physical products, human- induced flows in the water cycle are rapid. These flows are inextricably connected to:

• energy resources, which are used to transport and process water at all stages of the water cycle

• ecosystems, which are affected by abstracting water from its source and discharging it after use

• communities, which largely depend on the cultural role and social amenity of water. This applies particularly, but not exclusively, to Aboriginal Western Australians.

1.3 Innovation categories

In preparing this report, the Advisory Group considered the potential impacts of climate change, population and economic growth— which are the drivers for innovation—on water resources in urban, rural and remote areas.

This report makes 62 recommendations to improve innovation in the following categories:

• supplementing scheme water supplies

• addressing the water–energy nexus

• delivering water-sensitive cities

• managing precious resources

• community awareness

• water in the regions

• improved data and information sharing

• Western Australia’s water future

2. Supplementing scheme water supply

One of the most significant challenges for the future is to address the increasing demand for water, particularly drinking water, supplied to communities through public reticulated networks (or ‘schemes’). Options to address the issue involve increasing the sources or volumes of water contributing to the scheme on the one hand and reducing demand on the other.

2.1 Wastewater recycling

Using recycled water saves precious drinking water supplies, making a significant contribution to water conservation and helping to secure a sustainable water supply for future generations. As well as providing an additional source of water, recycling

benefits the network in other ways. These benefits include reducing the need for expensive upgrades or duplication of trunk sewers, the large pipes that carry sewage to a treatment plant, and reducing the need for incremental upgrades to existing wastewater plants. Recycling also lowers the pumping, capital and operating costs of discharging wastewater to the ocean. In addition, it has the potential to release groundwater for allocation to others, thus allowing the Department of Water to reduce water allocations without affecting local amenity.

Wastewater recycling is a generic term. It covers recycling on various scales (lot, precinct, district or region), and various uses (irrigation, non-drinking water (greywater), groundwater replenishment (indirect potable reuse), and drinking (direct potable reuse)).

What does our future look like?

All wastewater is injected into our aquifers or reused appropriately.

Current approaches

At the lot scale, some (greywater) recycling using water from bathroom sinks, showers and washing machines occurs in individual residential or commercial premises, although the numbers are small and some systems have been decommissioned.

Wastewater recycling for direct irrigation of parks and playing fields in regional Western Australia is widespread, partly driven by the need for a location to discharge treated wastewater.

In the Perth metropolitan area, the Water Corporation operates a non-drinking water scheme for industrial water use through the Kwinana Water Recycling Plant (KWRP), which treats secondary treated wastewater from the Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.

In addition, after a successful trial, the Water Corporation has introduced groundwater replenishment (a form of indirect potable reuse), in which advanced treated wastewater is used to recharge deep groundwater aquifers. The water can be later abstracted and used. The Water Corporation currently has approval to treat and reuse 28 GL of wastewater a year under the scheme.

Development proponents have advocated several recycling projects at various scales in recent years but none have yet proceeded.

Non-drinking water (NDW) systems are governed by approvals as detailed in the Department of Water ‘Guideline for the approval of NDW systems in Western Australia – Urban systems’ (2013). However, there is no overarching strategy to guide the expansion of recycled water in Western Australia.

To supplement scheme supplies, the Water Corporation is assessing the likelihood of using water from all of the major metropolitan wastewater treatment plants (Woodman Point, Beenyup (Craigie) and Subiaco) to replenish groundwater. However, before any major commitment occurs, alternative approaches to wastewater recycling should be fully and transparently evaluated.

Innovation example: Irrigation of McGillivray Oval, Mt Claremont

For over 10 years, recycled water from the Subiaco wastewater treatment plant has been used to irrigate McGillivray Oval, owned by the University of Western Australia. The 27-hectare site includes grassed ovals and hockey fields, as well as clay and lawn tennis courts, and is the first large-scale green space irrigation scheme in the Perth metropolitan area to use recycled water. Christ Church Grammar School is also intending to use recycled water from the Subiaco treatment plant on its new playing fields.

Innovation example: Wungong Urban

Around 3 km west of Armadale’s city centre sits 1580 hectares of semi-rural land in the suburbs of Hilbert and Haynes, known as Wungong Urban. The Wungong Urban development will provide a large-scale, non-potable recycled water supply for irrigation of its regional recreational ground and adjacent public open space via sewer mining, which involves extracting and treating wastewater for use before it reaches the wastewater treatment plant. Where groundwater abstraction has been capped or is limited (as in the Armadale area), urban development may be constrained, making large-scale recycled water schemes such as sewer mining feasible. While the uptake of sewer mining is more advanced in eastern Australia, it remains a largely untapped resource here. Appropriately implemented, however, it has the potential to offer multiple benefits to the community and environment. Efficient irrigation practices, in conjunction with hydrozoning (creating zones based on plant needs) and appropriate landscape design, can ensure optimal landscape outcomes based on this alternative, and otherwise wasted, water source.

Recommendations

1. Evaluate the social, economic and environmental cost–benefit of the full range of wastewater recycling options in Western Australia.

2. Establish targets for those options considered viable, and develop policy mechanisms to evaluate prospective projects.

2.2 Non-drinking water systems

Recycled water can provide a defined quantity and quality of water that, with some management controls, is suitable for a wide range of uses, including irrigation and toilet flushing. This allows high-value water to be retained for high-value purposes. Water for irrigating parks and gardens, washing clothes and flushing toilets can be of lower quality or what is called ‘fit-for-purpose’.

The non-drinking water source is generally rainwater, stormwater, groundwater or recycled wastewater.

The historical rate of greenfield development (development of vacant sites) in Perth is 68 per cent11. Under the Perth and Peel@3.5 million plan12, some 53 per cent of new growth will still be greenfield development, which will occur mainly on the urban fringe. The balance of ‘infill development’ will occur in designated activity centres, activity corridors and in broad-scale suburban areas that have been ‘up-zoned’. This will result in several hundred thousand new dwellings that will require integration into, and expansion of, the Integrated Water Supply System (IWSS) and the metropolitan wastewater network. The expected growth in the state’s nine regional centres and other regional towns will also lead to expansion of water and wastewater networks there.

New development, particularly greenfield development, activity centres, coordinated precincts and higher density developments, should incorporate non-drinking water schemes for supplying water to domestic laundries and toilets, and irrigation in both the private and public realm. Similarly, fit-forpurpose water should be available for new industrial areas such as the Rockingham

What does our future look like?

Residential, commercial and industrial areas have access to non-drinking water sources (NDW) for fit-for-purpose use.

Industry Zone. These schemes should be fully evaluated in terms of environmental and community benefits as well as the potential to offset incremental requirements for new IWSS water sources and upgrades to water distribution or storage assets.

Current approaches

Although contemporary policy requires consideration of non-drinking water (NDW) schemes, the onus currently falls on developers and local government to investigate options and negotiate alternative designs with the Water Corporation or private sector providers. Governance and the management of risk—including public perception, cost and viability—are recognised as current barriers to NDW systems, with these risks typically borne solely by the proponent.

NDW systems are governed by approvals detailed in the Department of Water ‘Guideline for the approval of non-drinking water systems in Western Australia – urban systems’ (2013). The aim of this guideline is for proponents of NDW projects to gain a greater understanding of the general considerations and regulatory requirements at various planning stages and have more confidence in assessing the viability of their proposal.

11 Department of Planning, Western Australian Planning Commission (2014) Urban Growth Monitor: Perth Metropolitan, Peel and Greater Bunbury Regions

12 https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/3.5million.asp

Innovation example: White Gum Valley

WGV is a sustainable residential development in the suburb of White Gum Valley in the City of Fremantle. The state’s land development agency, LandCorp, estimates that mains water consumption in the two-hectare precinct will be reduced by 70 per cent13 (or by as much as 40kL per person per year) compared with the Perth average of 106 kL through integrated urban water management. Key initiatives to drive this reduction include a community bore, waterwise irrigation system, integrated stormwater management, rainwater harvesting systems, water-efficient fixtures and appliances such as shower heads and taps, real-time monitoring and low water use landscaping. Alternative water will be delivered through a series of purple pipes to differentiate them from the drinking water supply scheme, and all single residential dwellings will be fitted with rainwater-ready plumbing as standard. Other outcomes from this Waterwise Development Exemplar project include the transformation of a large unsightly drainage sump into a landscaped infiltration basin, an urban tree canopy target of 30 per cent and initiatives to ensure all stormwater is captured locally.

Recommendations

3. Mandate non-drinking water (NDW) schemes for new greenfield, multidwelling and activity centre development, and for water-intensive industrial development.

4. Review the process and requirements for obtaining a water services licence or NDW approval—and levels of

measurement, validation and reporting— so they appropriately reflect the type of system and level of risk.

5. Develop a risk-sharing framework for alternative water source schemes that provide a public good or enhance urban liveability.

6. Incentivise NDW systems for external irrigation and for multi-storey and commercial buildings.

13 https://www.landcorp.com.au/Documents/Corporate/Innovation%20WGV/Innovation-WGV-Waterwise-DevelopmentExemplar.pdf

Image courtesy of Landcorp.

2.3 Water and wastewater pricing

Alternative proposals for supplying water and disposing of wastewater are sometimes deemed ‘uncompetitive’ compared with the apparent cost of conventional practices. It is unclear whether this is due to genuinely higher costs of the alternative proposals or to the lack of a level playing field. Do current regulatory, pricing or subsidy decisions fully incorporate all costs and benefits to the community, including environmental benefits, benefits to networks from wastewater reuse, and avoided costs? Where water prices are subsidised by the government, can this make alternative options less attractive?

If current charges for water and wastewater services do not reflect the true costs of providing those services, it is difficult for proponents of alternative services to identify and deliver more efficient ones. Note that the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) of Western Australia has recommended that charges for residential wastewater services no longer be based on a property’s gross rental value (all other states, except South Australia, have already dropped this practice). The ERA instead recommended a simpler and more transparent charging structure that retained in part the principle of ‘capacity to pay’.

There is scope for innovation through value capture and innovative pricing mechanisms. For example, the Victorian water regulator is proposing a framework provides water utilities with greater incentives to engage with their customers to determine what services customers want, while giving utilities full autonomy to provide those services as they see fit, and setting regulatory returns to the water utilities based on their performance and risk levels. A stronger performance for a water business to meet customers’ needs will

create new and stronger incentives that focus on greater value for money for customers, and on more efficient delivery of services.

What does our future look like?

Water source and supply options are determined on the basis of transparent environmental, social and economic lifecycle costs and benefits, both locally and systemically.

Recommendations

7. Open up the state’s system of water pricing and its determining factors, including improved valuation and transparency of environmental externalities in regulatory settings. Accessible information may influence new players.

8. Create an agreed interagency cost–benefit assessment framework to enable analyses of innovative ideas and the physical distribution of costs and benefits among all beneficiaries. The methodology published by the Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence may present a suitable basis for such a framework.

9. Seek EERC (Economic and Expenditure Reform Committee) support for an operating subsidy to private sector service providers wherever a clear case can be made in line with Attachment A of the State Government’s Operating Subsidy Guidelines14 or to contracting services, where the provider, customer and government can share costs.

14 http://www.treasury.wa.gov.au/uploadedFiles/_Treasury/Publications/operating_subsidy_guidelines_june2015.pdf

2.4 Third-party access to water infrastructure services.

Proponents of alternative water supply projects have sought to secure wholesale access to the Water Corporation’s wastewater and bulk water supplies. However, they have expressed concern that the terms specified by the Water Corporation are unclear until individual negotiations take place. In the interests of competition, a process should be developed that allows private companies to enter the market while ensuring the public interest is served.

Such access has been available in New South Wales since regulatory reform in 2008 that created a licensing regime for private-sector providers of reticulated drinking water, recycled water and sewerage services, and third-party access to water and sewerage infrastructure.

What does our future look like?

Third-party access creates competition in the water industry and fosters innovative water and wastewater solutions.

Recommendations

10. Review arrangements for third parties to purchase bulk water and wastewater services from the Water Corporation. In doing so, establish processes, terms and pricing arrangements that align with the public interest and make access arrangements as clear as possible from the outset. These provisions should also define when it is in the public interest to allow access to wastewater streams at zero price.

11. Clarify the Water Corporation’s position on access to pumping stations and pipelines for sewer mining by thirdparty providers. Note that the cost of headworks (infrastructure costs incurred to meet demand from new development) and ongoing charges should reflect the real costs to the Water Corporation.

3. Addressing the water energy nexus

It is well recognised that Western Australia’s water challenges are related to a drying climate. Over the past 30 years, reduced rainfall and stream flows have made traditional dams unreliable sources of water. In response, the IWSS has become more dependent on groundwater extraction and more recently desalination—both of which are

Figure 2 Energy consumption compared with greenhouse gas emissions, 2004–16

Source: Water Corporation

Figure 3 Electricity consumption 2004–16

Source: Water Corporation

more energy-intensive sources of water. As a result, the Water Corporation’s energy use and greenhouse gas footprint have grown significantly, both in aggregate and in intensity. Groundwater replenishment (although less energy intensive than desalination) still has significant energy demand.

3.1 Renewable energy sources in the water cycle

Two desalination plants—one in Kwinana (2006) and the other in Binningup (2011)— supply almost half of Perth’s drinking water needs. However, desalination is an energyintensive option compared to traditional water sources like dams or groundwater. While purchasing renewable energy can help offset the impacts of energy consumption, more needs to be done to reduce energy use and hence Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. Australia has committed to emissions reductions as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It is thus seen as inevitable that new policies will increase the relative cost of fossil fuel-based energy and reduce the relative cost of renewable energy accordingly. Investment decisions made now and in the near future should reflect the reality of water production and treatment powered increasingly by renewable resources.

What does our future look like?

Water production and treatment is powered by renewable resources, including energy generated from the water networks themselves.

Recommendations

12. Evaluate investment in the direct use of renewable energy in the water and wastewater operations of the Water Corporation and its supply chain. Implement targets for energy reduction.

13. Evaluate investment in solar photovoltaic and energy storage in terms of lifecycle cost and greenhouse gas mitigation.

14. Evaluate the viability of thermal (or hybrid) desalination techniques that use concentrated solar or geothermal energy sources in future desalination projects.

15. Encourage service providers (Department of Water, Aqwest, Busselton Water) to similarly identify opportunities to reduce the energy intensity of their water supply systems through investment in renewable energy.

16. Encourage the Department of Water and local governments to identify direct and indirect opportunities (e.g. through purchase agreement) for using renewable energy in the supply and use of water, particularly for irrigation.

17. Explore innovative power-generation technologies, such as fuel cells in wastewater treatment plants, and in-line mini hydropower systems to generate power from water pipelines.

Thinking outside the square

To achieve the full benefits of deployment of renewable energy at the scale of the electricity network requires energy storage to balance production and dispatch. One of the most economic techniques for large-scale storage of electrical energy is called PHES (pumped hydroelectricity energy storage). With this method, energy is stored by pumping water from a lower reservoir to a second reservoir at a higher elevation, thus turning electrical energy into potential energy. This stored potential energy is later converted to electricity by passing the stored water through an electricity‐generating turbine as the water returns to the lower reservoir.

Internationally, some 130 GW of generation capacity has been installed using PHES, which far surpasses other forms of large-scale energy storage. So far, only 1.5 GW of PHES has been installed in Australia. A recent report by the Melbourne Energy Institute indicates that PHES has the potential to be economic in eastern Australia, although no detailed studies have been made in Western Australia.

PHES nominally requires a minimum of 100 m difference in elevation between storages, which is consistent with the elevation of the Water Corporation’s dams relative to the coastal plain below. The potential to use the dams as upper-level storage for a PHES scheme should be evaluated as a parallel study to the renewable energy studies we have also recommended.

The opportunity, if proven, could be implemented by the Water Corporation as part of an integrated energy strategy, or in partnership with Synergy in its role as an energy generator, retailer and supplier to the Water Corporation.

Recommendation

18. Determine the potential cost–benefit of using one or more of the Water Corporation’s dams for PHES to store renewable energy, particularly from solar photovoltaics.

4. Delivering liveable cities

The Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC) has described a water-sensitive city of the future as an attractive place where people want to live and work. As defined on the CRC website15, it is a place that:

• serves as a potential water supply catchment, providing a range of different water sources at a range of different scales and for a range of different uses

• provides ecosystem services and a healthy natural environment, thereby offering a range of social, ecological and economic benefits

• consists of water-sensitive communities where citizens have the knowledge and desire to make wise choices about water, are actively engaged in decision making, and demonstrate positive behaviours such as conserving water at home and not tipping chemicals down the drain.

The CRC recognises that water is integral to almost every feature of an urban landscape. ‘Our cities and towns are complex, everevolving places, and the way we interact with other people constantly changes, too. In a water-sensitive city, we interact with the urban water (hydrological) cycle in ways that:

• provide the water security essential for economic prosperity through efficient use of diverse available resources

• enhance and protect the health of waterways and wetlands, the river basins that surround them, and the coast and bays

• mitigate flood risk and damage

• create public spaces that collect, clean and recycle water.

15 https://watersensitivecities.org.au

4.1 Liveability and the public domain

The public domain is an important community asset for social, economic and environmental reasons. Green spaces support the hydrological cycle, biodiversity, climate regulation and a range of community values, including physical and mental wellbeing. In conjunction with regional open space, public open space and streetscapes are vital to preserve regional ecosystems amid growing cities. Green cover and urban forests can moderate temperatures by providing shade and can cool an area through evapotranspiration, reducing the phenomenon of urban ‘heat islands’.

Local governments are generally responsible for maintaining public open space in Western Australia. The Department of Water grants local governments in the metropolitan area a yearly allocation of groundwater, commonly used to irrigate parks and gardens. However, water resources are under pressure. With more groundwater resources becoming fully allocated (or over-allocated), especially in the northern and eastern urban growth areas, unallocated groundwater for irrigation is no longer available in some areas and increased water efficiency measures, other water sources or alternative solutions are required.

What does our future look like?

Our urban environments contain networks of well-designed and high-quality green (vegetation) and blue (water) places and spaces that are comfortable, safe, diverse, accessible, loved, and enhanced by effective and sustainable water management.

By 2050, the population of the Perth region is expected to reach 3.5 million people. To manage this growth, the Perth and Peel@3.5 million16 report recommends the creation of a more consolidated city through greater infill and residential density and has set an infill target of 47 per cent. Provision for public open spaces will need to be appropriately designed to support the physical and mental wellbeing of communities in the future.

Current approaches

Element 5 of the Western Australian Planning Commission policy ‘Liveable Neighbourhoods’17 provides guidelines for the planning of public open space for a variety of community and environmental purposes. It encourages shared use and co-location of public open spaces (ovals, schools), water efficiency, integrated water management, non-irrigated areas and alternative fit-for-purpose water sources for irrigation. It also states that design should ‘be sensitive to limited water availability through innovation rather than limitation’.

Recommendations

19. Support local governments in the metropolitan area to secure alternative water supplies for public open space, particularly where there is insufficient groundwater to meet irrigation demands.

20. Develop incentives to support local governments in the metropolitan area to improve irrigation efficiency and introduce hydrozoning to help maintain liveable public open spaces.

21. Optimise the use of public land to deliver multiple benefits and efficiencies to the water cycle, community and environment.

22. Provide incentives, such as plot ratio/ density bonuses, for green infrastructure that cleans, reduces and infiltrates stormwater runoff.

16 https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/3.5million.asp

17 https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/Liveable-neighbourhoods.asp

4.2 Managed recharge of the superficial aquifer in Perth

The superficial aquifer, extending from Geraldton in the north to Busselton in the south, is critically important for the health of waterways and wetlands and groundwater dependent ecosystems generally. The aquifer has been a major source of water for the IWSS and for irrigation by horticulturalists and

local government. A combination of a drying climate and high abstraction means that most groundwater in the Perth metropolitan area from the superficial aquifer is fully allocated. As a result, the availability of water for both environmental benefit and the irrigation of public open space is becoming increasingly limited. At the same time, over 100 GL of highly treated wastewater is discharged to the ocean each year. We suggest some of this wastewater could be used to replenish groundwater resources.

Innovation example: investigating opportunities for public open space irrigation

Groundwater levels in the west suburbs (Claremont, Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove, Nedlands, Subiaco and Cambridge) continue to fall and salinity has increased in certain areas. It has become increasingly difficult to source water to irrigate parks, gardens and sporting fields.

The Department of Water has partnered with the Western Suburbs Regional Organisation of Councils (WESROC) to explore solutions to the issues of supply and quality of groundwater. Strategic aims also include the protection of established vegetation and the social amenity of local wetlands.

Key options for how recycled water from the Subiaco wastewater treatment plant may be used include:

• using scheme water for irrigation, offset by groundwater replenishment

• direct piping of recycled wastewater for irrigation

• managed aquifer recharge of treated wastewater for irrigation Stormwater infiltration (soak wells) and general optimisation of water use (hydrozoning and various waterwise initiatives) are already well advanced.

A pre-feasibility study of managed aquifer recharge using treated wastewater has been conducted in parallel with a conceptual groundwater model study. The studies will be followed by further detailed investigations.

Recommendation

23. Identify suitable locations and opportunities to recharge the superficial aquifer with appropriately treated wastewater in the Perth metropolitan area. ‘Topping up’ will relieve pressure on stressed wetlands and waterways, and provide additional groundwater resources for irrigation.

4.3 Drainage and green community space

The drainage system is an essential part of living in a city or urban area, as it reduces flood damage by carrying water away. The benefits of a well-designed drainage system also include impacts on rivers and creeks, community health, recreational benefits (improved amenity, aesthetics), a cooler urban environment and improved water quality. As alternative habitats for plants and animals, they also increase biodiversity.

The Water Corporation and local government currently manage the drains in the metropolitan area.

The Water Corporation manages about 828 km of drains in the metropolitan area and 2250 km of rural main drains.18 These drains divert water from over 400 000 hectares of land and 260 000 properties. The Corporation has been the drainage asset owner of the main drainage system since its inception in 1996.

Local councils manage most of the small reticulation drains of Perth’s urban drainage network. Outside the metropolitan area, local government generally manages the complete drainage network, except for declared rural drainage districts managed by the Water Corporation.

Management and maintenance of drains, stormwater management systems, waterways and wetlands may impact on ecosystems and human health, including from poor water quality and infestations of mosquitoes and other insects. There are guidelines for effective stormwater management but opportunities exist for further uptake of improved practices and innovation.

What does our future look like?

A network of green (vegetation) and blue (water) infrastructure in cities and towns manages flood risk and water quality, and enhances opportunities for recreation and community wellbeing.

Current approaches

The Department of Water and the Water Corporation have partnered though the Opportunities for the Water Portfolio Drainage Program to improve drainage management. Work has focused on ‘reframing drainage’ to meet the needs of the community through:

• understanding current arrangements

• examining options to improve drainage management

• identifying priority areas for improvement.

Both organisations have signed a ‘partnering agreement’ to seek broader outcomes for the community. Out of this collaboration, the Drainage for Liveability Program, announced in October 2016, has been developed to work with local authorities to go beyond the hydraulic objectives of the Water Corporation drainage assets. The expanded objectives include:

18 https://www.watercorporation.com.au/about-us/environment-and-sustainability/drainage-management

• sharing drainage corridors with bicycle paths and walkways

• creating ‘living streams’

• developing parks within drainage basins.

Recommendations

24. Support the collaborative approach of the Drainage for Liveability Program to go beyond hydraulic objectives for the drainage system. If the program is unsuccessful in its implementation, we recommend more fundamental reform.

25. Facilitate the transfer of roles and responsibilities to local governments prepared to take ownership of drainage assets in order to manage them for multiple benefits.

26. Retrofit urban drainage systems so that side entry pits increase water infiltration, stormwater is directed towards street trees and vegetated areas, and liveability of the public domain is enhanced.

27. Develop a public score card system for drainage amenity, considering nutrients, pollutants, biodiversity and other community values (Department of Water).

Supporting innovation: Drainage for Liveability program

The new Drainage for Liveability Program is designed to enhance the value to the community of stormwater drains and basins across Western Australia.

Stormwater drains and basins serve a functional purpose in protecting homes and businesses from flooding but they also have the potential to contribute to the liveability of local communities and provide attractive green spaces.

The aim of the program is to open up areas previously inaccessible to the community by developing drains into appealing local assets that make communities better places to live. The first project for the program is a 'pop up' park proposed by the City of Bayswater, off Russell Street in Morley.

In addition, the Water Corporation and Department of Water are working with interested community groups, local authorities and the development industry to improve drainage and surface water management, and increase green open spaces in urban environments.

This is part of enabling the transition of Perth and rural centres across Western Australia towards the vision of the ‘water-sensitive city’ as well as integrating water systems planning with land-use planning.

4.4 Review implementation of Better Urban Water Management

The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) released the Better Urban Water Management framework in 2008 ‘to facilitate better management and use of our urban water resources by ensuring an appropriate level of consideration is given to the total water cycle at each stage of the planning system’. It states: ‘The urban water cycle should be managed as a single system in which all urban water flows are recognised as a potential resource and where the interconnectedness of water supply, groundwater, stormwater, wastewater, flooding, water quality, wetlands, watercourses, estuaries and coastal waters is recognised. Water efficiency, reuse and recycling are integral components of total water cycle management.’

The framework seeks to guide planning for total water cycle management through the preparation of strategies for regional, district and local areas. While these strategies have influenced practices that directly relate to land use—such as flood controls and drainage management—they have had little or no influence on water supply and wastewater services that are not under the direct control of the WAPC or local government. As a result, the core intention of Better Urban Water Management to achieve integrated water cycle management has not been realised. However, some advances have been made in improving the integrated management of stormwater, groundwater and the environment.

What does our future look like?

An effective and outcome focussed approvals process for planning and development assists the creation of watersensitive cities.

Current approaches

Implementation of the Better Urban Water Management framework is under review. The Department of Water is evaluating its effectiveness within the context of statutory referral processes, standards, support mechanisms and policy.

The department is selecting case studies from across the state to demonstrate outcomes so far. These will be audited (via data collected by Water Online and other means) against the standards and criteria in the framework, allowing the department to make an informed evaluation and pursue the right things.

Innovation example: Josh’s House

Josh’s House (actually two adjacent 10 Star NatHERS rated homes in the Perth suburb of Hilton) shows how a fully integrated approach to residential urban water management can design for a 60 per cent (or more) reduction in the use of mains water. The design initiatives include a shared bore, a single large soakwell, rainwater tanks, greywater reuse, and water-efficient plumbing and appliances. The home of Josh Byrne and his family incorporates over 70 sensors in order to monitor and measure various aspects of the building’s performance. This includes all forms of water consumption and related energy use in and around the house, and is allowing an enormous amount of data on the performance of the house and its systems to be gathered. The most recent monitoring shows the overall mains water saving is closer to 90 per cent. All of the data from Josh’s House is made freely available to the public, industry and academia.

Recommendations

28. Review the effectiveness of implementation of the Better Urban Water Management framework (WAPC, 2008) to identify opportunities for improvement. The influence on outcomes of other regulatory agencies, service providers and developers should be included.

29. Establish a peer review panel to help decision-making authorities assess innovative and best practice approaches to urban water management.

Image courtesy of D-Max Photography.

5. Managing precious resources

5.1 Review Department of Water allocation policy

The Department of Water manages water abstraction by issuing water licences through the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914.

The department’s allocation plans guide individual licensing decisions. The plans outline how much water can be taken from groundwater and surface water resources while safeguarding the sustainability of the resource and protecting the waterdependent environment.

The department uses water allocation plans to guide individual licensing decisions so they collectively contribute to economic, social and environmental outcomes. These plans inform how information will be collected about water resources, how our water management will be adapted to changing circumstances and how water resources can be best used. The plans are non-statutory guides to the licensing process.

At present—unless the use is exempted from requiring a license or permit—a water user needs to apply for a licence or a permit to take water from a declared groundwater or surface water management area. The current system determines whether water is available within the allocation limit, and assesses whether the applicant meets criteria set under RiWI 7(2), as well as any applicable statewide policy or local licensing rules (set out in the allocation plan). If these conditions are met, and any impacts can be managed, a licence to take and use water would be issued to applicants in the order in which the applications are received. Unallocated water generally refers to the amount of water in a resource that is not yet issued to licensees and has not been reserved (or set aside) for any particular users.

The IAG considers new water resource management legislation is needed to meet the challenges of groundwater management in a drying south-west.

Current approach

As the number of licences in a water resource increase and the resource approaches full allocation, more sophisticated management of water options are required. The government has given approval to drafting new legislation that will improve management of water resources in Western Australia.

The legislation will pave the way for release water that is available in a resource for use. The preferred method will depend on local circumstances and include competitive submissions and market-based methods.

Meanwhile, current mechanisms allow the department to recoup entitlements (both used and unused). The existing policy on managing water entitlements (‘Management of unused licensed water entitlements 2003’) states that an unused water entitlement is that part or all of the licensed annual water entitlement that has not been taken (used) for more than three consecutive years, unless otherwise specified in licence conditions or operating strategies or agreed development timeframes. It says an entitlement can be varied if the quantity of water that may be taken under the licence has consistently not been taken, taking into account extenuating circumstances or operational strategies (‘use-it or lose-it’).

Recommendations

30. Provide substantial opportunities for industry input on allocation policy as part of the water reform process.

31. Ensure the Department of Water clarifies rules about the range of criteria for recouping entitlements and issuing further entitlements.

5.2 Management of garden bores

It is estimated there are about 17 000 households with garden bores in the Perth and Peel region, using 88 GL of water per year. A significant portion of these are unlicensed household bores, representing around 15 per cent of total water demand on the superficial aquifer. We recognise that responsible and efficient use of groundwater for watering lawns and gardens helps conserve more valuable drinking water and also spreads water abstraction geographically.

The Department of Water uses numerous sources of information to estimate the volume of water abstracted by domestic garden bores. Because these bores are exempt from licensing and generally unmetered, both the number of bores and the volume of water used are estimates only.

The main factors considered are how many bores there are and how much each bore uses on average. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that the annual usage from some individual bores is significantly greater. If bore usage continues to rise, the volume of water available for licensed water supply will be impacted. Alternatively, if bore usage should decrease, allocations may be freed up for irrigating the public realm for greater community benefit.

What does our future look like?

Groundwater is used for domestic garden irrigation in an efficient and responsible manner.

Current approaches

Domestic garden bores (unless artesian) are exempt from licensing under the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914. Groundwater use from the shallow watertable aquifer is exempt from licensing if the area under irrigation is less than 0.2 ha. However, management of these bores is provided by the Water Agencies (Water Use) By-Laws 2010. These by-laws outline a number of permanent sprinkler restrictions. In addition to enforcing sprinkler restrictions on domestic bores, the Department of Water guides where new bores can be installed without increasing the risk of impacting the quality of the water resource or environmentally sensitive areas, such as wetlands. The department’s garden bore suitability map updated in 2011, is available online19

Recommendations

32. Apply meters to household garden bores, with abstraction limits based on property size and stormwater infiltration characteristics.

33. Prohibit the installation of new household bores in areas that are close to full allocation (or already over-allocated), unless it can be demonstrated that groundwater abstraction can be undertaken as part of a sustainable water balance.

34. Prohibit household bores in new developments with an existing nondrinking water supply.

19 http://www.water.wa.gov.au/maps-and-data/maps/garden-bore-suitability-map

5.3 Regulate the irrigation industry

In Western Australia, irrigation is responsible for a large amount of water use—irrigated agriculture about 510 GL a year20 and urban irrigation (parks and gardens, and household gardens) nearly 260 GL a year21. Unlike plumbing professionals who are legally required to hold a plumber’s licence to carry out plumbing work inside and outside the house, irrigation professionals are not legally required to do so. Consequently, many irrigation installations are undertaken by doit-yourself enthusiasts who have little or no training. The result is that some systems are wasteful or substandard.

Irrigation Australia Limited (IAL), the peak organisation representing the irrigation industry, is working towards a national certification system for irrigation professionals, including designers, contractors, installers, operators, managers, retailers and advisors, who are interested in raising standards. The current IAL certification program is voluntary and self-regulating.

What does our future look like?

Irrigation systems which supply water for agriculture, public and private spaces are designed and installed to reflect best practice.

Current approaches

In the case of the rural sector, IAL has recently produced a set of Rural Irrigation System Design Standards and Codes of Practice for Queensland. These documents, prepared with funding from the Queensland

Government, provide a consistent guide for irrigation designers of piped irrigation systems. While the standards were produced for Queensland, the IAL is interested in seeing them applied and tested across the country, with a view to them becoming national standards.

The Waterwise Garden Irrigator Program (WGIP) is a joint initiative of the Western Australian region of IAL and the Water Corporation. The program, which aims to save water around the home, is underpinned by appropriate design principles, system specifications and installation standards. While most professional irrigators have adopted the program, many systems continue to be installed by subcontractors who are not beholden to these standards. In addition, there is a lack of third-party verification as inspections and audits are rarely undertaken.

Recommendation

35. Regulate the garden industry to ensure irrigation systems are installed in accordance with best practice design principles, system specifications and installation standards.

36. Support Irrigation Australia Limited (IAL) to highlight the importance of engaging certified professionals, both in the rural sector and in the urban setting.

37. Develop Western Australian Design Standards and Codes of Practice for the rural sector to provide a consistent guide for irrigation professionals.

38. Establish an exemption to irrigation restrictions when it is demonstrated that water usage ensures a sustainable water balance.

20 Department of Water, Water for Growth - Agriculture (draft)

21 Department of Water, Water for Growth – Urban (2016)

6. Community awareness of water

6.1 Community water literacy

Water ‘literacy’ is knowledge about water sources, water management and waterrelated issues. In 2014 the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities conducted a national survey to establish a baseline understanding of knowledge of water and water-related issues. The research found a clear correlation between level of knowledge about water and behaviour—that is, higher levels of water literacy were associated with a range

What does our future look like?

The community understands the water cycle, and is capable of contributing meaningfully to decision making about waterrelated issues.

of water conservation behaviours, including a greater uptake of water saving devices, conservation strategies and acceptance of alternative water sources.

Current approaches

The Water Corporation’s component of the Waterwise program promotes water saving measures through an array of educational programs. There is a lack of a parallel program with a focus on the importance of water as a fundamental element in the landscape and as a quality indicator for liveability measures in our communities. Among other educational tools available in Western Australia is the Corporation’s Waterwise School Program. This program is designed to build student awareness and understanding of water as a significant environmental issue and teaches where water comes from, how it is used and how to use it responsibly. Topics include the water cycle, stormwater, wastewater and recycling.

Recommendation

39. Develop a program to raise community awareness of water issues beyond scheme water,). This program should include:

• educational programs that will communicate ‘whole of water cycle’ messages to the community, including schools

• messages related to water-sensitive urban design at household scale

• partnerships with suppliers and industry to provide relevant information on household water efficiency and alternatives to scheme water (garden bores, rainwater and greywater systems)

• targeted messages with a sectorial focus to drive behaviour change, particularly ahead of reduced groundwater allocations.

6.2 Provision of additional water-use information

Presently, the Water Corporation’s billing system provides information to householders and other users on their water use in the present period, the previous period and the same period in preceding years. (The previous year’s water use is provided online.) It has been established that awareness of other people’s water (or energy) use is an effective way to influence consumption behaviour. Consumers lower their water usage if they know how much water they consume compared to their neighbours. Water bills that compare water use on a geographical basis is available in some parts of Perth and this initiative should be expanded.

The use of water and the use of energy are intricately intertwined. With the recent significant increase in energy costs associated with supplying mains water, it would be valuable to advise households and businesses how much energy is embodied in their water use.

Recommendation

40. Expand current billing information to allow users to compare their water use with others in their locality, and at the same time remind them of the state’s per person targets

41. Modify water bills to state the amount of energy used to supply the volume of water used by the household. Compare this with previous years

42. Introduce mandatory disclosure of water efficiency features of a home at point of sale (potentially required through building regulations)

43. Publish online daily water use tables for each suburb and region (include estimates of private groundwater abstraction). Weather programs could broadcast end-of-season reports about water usage (as is often done for rainfall).

6.3 Smart metering and data collection

The water system is constantly changing. Smart meters capture these dynamics by collecting water use data from water meters at regular intervals and sending it back to databases used by water managers and service providers. They allow managers (and householders) to monitor, maintain and manage water usage. For example, smart meters can send automatic alarms and to help users identify water leaks or abnormal usage patterns ahead of time. Creating a smart water database with two-way interaction will provide an opportunity to capture data from third parties through interaction.

For householders, in-home smart meter dashboards remind customers of the need to conserve water, especially by detecting leaks. For utilities, smart meters provide the opportunity to control their networks, detect leaks and identify the location and extent of breaks in water mains. They allow utilities to obtain water use data remotely and also have the potential to monitor compliance with local water restrictions.

Another challenge is to integrate smart meters for water and smart meters for energy, for cost and efficiency benefits. Note that Western Power has previously proposed installation of smart meters in their network. Meanwhile, a combined water and power utility in California (Glendale) replaced all 88 000 electric and 35 000 water meters with smart meters in a program rolled out over several years. Prepayment meters also present an opportunity for innovation, particularly where they improve the scope for cost recovery and water efficiency savings in remote communities and make service provision more sustainable.

What does our future look like?

Immediate feedback is provided to households and water managers to demonstrate mains water use in real time and thus improve management, allowing users to make water and energy decisions with confidence.

Innovation example: smart meters

The Water Corporation trialled smart meter technology in Kalgoorlie–Boulder where 13 800 smart meters were installed in residential, commercial and industrial properties –– the biggest trial of its kind to be completed by a water utility in Australia22. On any given day of the trial, at least one in five properties recorded a continuous flow of water, which indicated a leak may be present. During the twoyear trial period, from July 2010 to June 2012, water needs supplied to Kalgoorlie–Boulder fell by about 10 per cent, or 38 000 litres per household23. Despite impressive results produced by the trial, the cost of the devices remains an issue. Meanwhile, over 14 000 new smart meters have since been rolled out to properties throughout the Pilbara.

22 www.watercorporation.com.au/about-us/media/media-releases/media-release/smart-meter-trial-proves-successful

23 www.itnews.com.au/news/wa-struggles-to-justify-smart-water-meters-364156

Recommendations

44. Increase dynamic data capture by installing smart meters on all licensed bores.

45. Implement smart metering ‘packages’, particularly in new developments for network management, electronic billing and resident feedback potentially as a bundled service with other utilities, including Western Power/Synergy and ATCO/Alinta Gas/Kleenheat.

6.4 Catchmentbased water cycle information portal

It is presently difficult for people to obtain reliable information about the water cycle related to their own interest and the public interest. Service providers hold information relevant to their operations, the Department of Water holds information relevant to their role and obligations, and information about selfsupplied users is usually unavailable. Most information that is available is geographically based, which does not necessarily reflect the water cycle of particular catchments.

In the interests of educating water users and the public more generally, a single online information portal should be developed to present time series information at a catchment scale. Components should include the:

• overall water balance illustrating natural flows and abstraction, treatment, transport, use and discharges of water

• abstractions of water to and from the environment disaggregated by user type (household, industry, agriculture)

• energy and greenhouse gas footprints associated with each type of use and discharge

• ecosystems affected by modifications to the natural water cycle from human uses

• sources of more detailed information held by various parties, including live proposals that would significantly affect the catchment water cycle.

As such information is most clearly understood on a catchment basis, it is preferable that the information is presented in that way. It is recognised that data that is presently categorised on a regional basis (by the Department of Water) and on a local government basis (by others) would require some manipulation. Natural resource management groups would be logical partners to this portal project.

What does our future look like?

Open source sharing of information results in better understanding and management of complex water systems and interactions by government, the private sector and the broader community. Utilities and users have the tool to understand and communicate water risk to local communities and put adaption plans in place.

Recommendation

46. Develop on information portal that provides time series information about the water cycle and water balance on a catchment scale, enabling the public to be informed about water availability and use.

7. Water in the regions

7.1 Regional water supplies and services

Water issues in regional areas are diverse due to variations in climate, water use, available water resources and their level of connectedness. In some areas, local supplies are used to supplement connected supplies, reducing reliance on the major sources. Local supplies include:

• dams with granite outcrop catchments

• dams with artificially constructed catchments

• dams collecting overland flow from natural catchments and waterways

• rainwater tanks

• stormwater harvesting from town sites

• wastewater reuse

• dewater from mining activities

• production bores accessing groundwater

of adequate quality and quantity.

In dryland agricultural areas there are also community water supply facilities. These include stand-alone strategic supplies of emergency water for farms during dry seasons, as well as non-strategic dams catering for a range of community water uses.

In the south-west region, which is heavily impacted by climate change, we see a need to better integrate water and wastewater services to improve recycling opportunities and thus increase the resilience of supplies. Service providers who deliver both water and wastewater services are potentially better able to operate efficiently and recover more water through innovative water cycle management than providers of a single function.

Many remote settlements and agricultural operations rely on diesel generation to abstract and transport water. An opportunity exists to integrate water and power services to these communities, utilising renewable energy.

What does our future look like?

Regional towns and remote settlements have resilient water supply systems (drinking and non-drinking water) that are powered by renewable resources.

Current approaches

The Water Corporation’s cost structure for its standard service in regional areas is based upon cost recovery for the provision of highquality scheme water treated to potable (drinking) standards. It also reflects the high specifications required for infrastructure to reduce risks to water quality and availability.

In some instances, however, the Department of Water and the Water Corporation have recognised the need for local non-

potable water supplies and made disused infrastructure (sources of non-potable water) available for activities such as irrigation of sporting grounds, parks and gardens, roadwork, firefighting and emergency livestock water supplies, they optimised the use of valuable local infrastructure and reduced demand on scheme water supplies, which are under considerable pressure due to the drying climate.

In the case of the Puntapin Dam project in the Shire of Wagin, extra water from the disused dam reduced demand on the Great Southern Towns Water Supply Scheme –– sourced from the Harris Dam, that is itself struggling with low water levels. Non-potable water is piped from Puntapin Dam, 6 km into storage tanks in Wagin for use in irrigation and to provide an emergency water source24

Innovation example: Mowanjum

At Mowanjum, a 400-member Aboriginal community on the outskirts of Derby, the Housing Authority has used digital technology to help conserve water. The Authority installed smart meter devices to measure water use within the community. A website enables customers to see how much water they are using in real time, enabling them to make choices about how much water they use. Because leaks in the system are identified (and later fixed), the meters also help to prevent waste on the 55 000 hectare pastoral lease. As a result, water bills have been reduced and community knowledge of water efficiency increased.

24 http://www.york.wa.gov.au/profiles/york/assets/clientdata/document-centre/2014_minutes/july_ordinary/12.8_ appendices.pdf

Supporting innovation: Watering WA

The Watering WA program creates the actions and infrastructure needed for farms and towns to expand the use of non-drinking water25. The $30 million program targets priority areas in regions affected by drying climate and vulnerable to deficiencies in water supply and quality. It accelerates the work of the state’s Rural Water Plan, which has helped secure water supplies for regional farms and towns for the past 20 years. Watering WA is made possible by Royalties for Regions funding.

Recommendations

47. Investigate the potential for alternative levels of service to reduce costs in regional areas, including the use of rainwater tanks for drinking water.

48. Form a partnership with Horizon Power to fast-track the application of packagescale desalination or treatment plants (using renewable energy) for localised water solutions in regional and remote communities.

49. Support the expansion of services by Aqwest and Busselton Water into wastewater provision to optimise total water cycle outcomes and administration.

50. Develop a strategy for remote settlements to be serviced by locally operated integrated power and water operations utilising renewable energy.

25 http://www.water.wa.gov.au/wateringWA

7.2 Water for agriculture

Agriculture accounts for almost one-third of the state’s total water use. Farmers are adapting to less water being available in the southern region, and preparing for a drier and hotter climate in the future. Innovations are emerging that will increase the value of production from irrigated agriculture (currently worth about $1 billion26) through alternative water sources and more efficient irrigation efficiency. In the north of the state, the area under irrigated is set to expand (from 30 000 ha now to a further 60 000 ha in the short term26) with the use of water from the Ord River Dam and groundwater in the West Kimberley and Pilbara. Access to suitable land, water and infrastructure is a key element to enable the growth of output in the agriculture sector.

New technologies and farm systems are emerging that help increase the productive use of water through evapotranspiration, scheduled irrigation and controlled fertiliser use. Treatment systems that facilitate the use of wastewater, stormwater drainage and saline groundwater for irrigated agriculture are becoming more accessible. With more than one million hectares of broadacre farmland in Western Australia presently affected by dryland salinity, investment in new technologies can assist the areas most affected to treat brackish water and enable farmers to put this water to productive use.

The cost of accessing water is an important factor in agricultural businesses. In those areas that rely on pumping to abstract or distribute water (groundwater or surface water), power costs to move water are a significant impost on business. Solar power,

integrated with battery storage and small smart diesel technology, will enable a more sustainable business model for operators in the agricultural sector.

Another option we think should be investigated is the introduction of greenhouse structures for intensive agriculture. This should include research into the growth of both traditional and potential niche market horticulture crops, and their viability in our various regional climate conditions. The research should consider innovative approaches such as South Australia’s use of greenhouses. At Sundrop Farms, all water used for irrigating the crops is piped from the Spencer Gulf and converted into fresh water using a thermal desalination unit27. The 20-hectare facility in Port Augusta, which opened in October 2016, uses solar power to reduce temperatures inside the greenhouse.

Expansion of food production in Western Australia can potentially increase significantly with the development of horticultural precincts. Some traditional broadacre farming regions based on cropping and livestock are looking to expand their agricultural output to grow irrigated crops that may be used for food, fodder and fuel production.

The Department of Water—partnered with the Shire of Merredin and private investors— are developing a proposal for an irrigated agricultural precinct at Merredin that could include the establishment of a showcase 5-hectare sustainable greenhouse productions facility. The greenhouse will potentially use treated saline groundwater or treated wastewater as its main source of water.

The success of agricultural industries is linked to their ability to continually evolve the way they go about their business, the types of products they produce, and the types of

26 http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/publications/tabledpapers.nsf/displaypaper/3913169cf5f10201c64ec3c348257ea1 000abaf0/$file/tp-3169.pdf

27 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-01/sundrop-farms-opens-solar-greenhouse-using-no-fresh-water/7892866

markets they supply as conditions change. Innovation is the catalyst for the growth and success of agriculture businesses seeking their own adaptive changes. Investigations into innovative alternative water and power supplies, such as renewable energy sources and recycled water, may present opportunities for lower cost or more effective extractions and movement of water for horticulture.

What does our future look like?

Our state’s agricultural potential is unconstrained by the availability or cost of water.

Current approaches

The $40 million Water for Food initiative, funded by Royalties for Regions, is defining the availability of water sources for existing and new irrigation areas. The primary objective of Water for Food is to identify water and land resources, as well as irrigation technologies, that can enable Western Australia’s fresh food and animal protein production to increase its contribution to regional economies by at least 50 per cent by 2025 and twofold by 205028. Apart from water for irrigation, available water may be used to support agricultural processing close to growing areas –– for example, processing tomatoes for canning or processing oats.

Supporting innovation: Water for Food

The Water for Food initiative is providing new opportunities for investment in Western Australia’s irrigated agriculture sector through the development of strategic project areas and irrigation precincts. New water sources and innovation in irrigation will support growth and diversification of agriculture and horticulture in Western Australia, driving new economic opportunities for the state and the country.

With projects spanning from the Kimberley in the north to Manjimup in the south, Water for Food is working to facilitate commercial investment decisions for new, large-scale irrigated agriculture precincts and the expansion of existing areas by identifying water and land resources.

28 http://www.water.wa.gov.au/planning-for-the-future/meeting-demand/water-for-food

Innovation example: Mowanjum irrigation trial

The Mowanjum project is a research agreement and funding partnership between the State Government and the Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation, a 400-member community on the outskirts of Derby. The government has supported a business case to establish an irrigation trial on a 400-hectare diversification permit on Mowanjum station as a demonstration model for other pastoral stations in the Kimberley. Mowanjum’s 55 000-hectare pastoral lease contains large tracts of prime grazing land.

In the trial, a 38-hectare centre pivot irrigation system was commissioned in August 2015 to access underused groundwater sources and develop a stand and graze operation. Mowanjum’s first consignment of around 240 Brahman–cross cattle from the stand and graze operation was prepared for export through the Broome Port in April 2016. Over 200 tonnes of hay and silage were cut on March 2016. This small hay production operation has helped diversify the Mowanjum cattle operation and create sustainable job and training opportunities. Private sector partnerships may further develop the potential of Mowanjum station.

Irrigation innovation has the potential to make this trial even more successful. Optimisation of power use and investment in renewables and battery storage can significantly decrease operating costs. Investment in R&D to develop expertise in automated irrigation and innovative modular solutions can further reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Image courtesy of Russell Yeo.

Innovation example: La Grange Project

The La Grange Agriculture Opportunities Project led by the Department of Agriculture and Food came to a successful end in June 2016, with more than 50 000 hectares identified and mapped as potentially suitable for irrigation development. Traditional owners and pastoralists worked together with government agencies (funded by Royalties for Regions investment), building strong relationships and developing a shared vision for the future of agricultural development in the La Grange area south of Broome.

The feasibility project involved research on soils, water, land tenure, markets, investment opportunities, cultural and environmental areas of significance and regional landholder aspirations.

The project included the development of an interactive map online map that can assist pastoralists, horticulturalists, miners and potential developers to identify potential water sources in the La Grange. The map provides valuable data about the water table depth and aquifer thickness, which will assist decisions about investing in bores for irrigation or livestock. This free map can save users time, money and effort in their search for freshwater by allowing users to access high-resolution aquifer data across the 3.5 million hectares of the La Grange groundwater allocation area.

The project has provided the foundation to support sustainable agricultural development which is expected to generate business growth and employment opportunities for northern communities.

The La Grange Western Australia Groundwater Map provides valuable data about the water table depth and aquifer thickness (image courtesy of Department of Agriculture and Food).

Recommendations

51. Facilitate and support more investment in agriculture based on research and feasibility studies through the Water for Food initiative. Effort should be focused on viable long-term agricultural projects that can attract the necessary investment to achieve scale.

52. Investigate advanced desalination techniques (small portable desalination units powered by wind or solar energy) to treat brackish water in salinity-affected areas. Consider also the issue of disposal or beneficial reuse of the waste brine product.

53. Support research and investment into crops that can grow in brackish water (such as Spirulina, a blue-green microalgae) and new irrigation technology (e.g. trickle systems) to ensure that existing staple key food supply crops are suitable for changing climatic conditions.

54. Investigate the potential to leverage water management techniques from other water users, such as the mining, oil and gas sectors. For example, investigate the use of ‘partial damming’ to slow some of the water flowing through creeks and rivers (including mine dewater) to store in aquifers and abstract as needed for agriculture.

7.3 Land tenure

Securing land tenure (e.g. long-term leasehold) can provide opportunities for existing interest holders, such as holders of pastoral leases or Aboriginal traditional owners, to attract investment and allow diversification into intensive irrigated agriculture. Greater diversification of land tenure will generate new partnerships and investment opportunities across the state.

In general, access to land and water is critical to successful agricultural investment. Depending on location, prospective investors have raised concerns that various approvals processes are too complex, costly and time consuming. A more streamlined ‘packaged’ process to gain the necessary approvals would clear the way for new business.

What does our future look like?

Successful agricultural industries with secure water supplies are thriving on Crown land previously dedicated to grazing.

Current approaches

Reform of tenure in the Rangelands, which incorporates pastoral leases, Crown leases and other state-owned land, is being considered. The aim is to move the pastoral industry forward with innovation and diversification.

Recommendation

55. Support pastoral reform to diversify activities on existing pastoral and other Crown land leases to facilitate agricultural growth.

56. Investigate the value of a ‘one-stop-shop’ web portal to give potential investors access to detailed information about land and water in any area of the state.

7.4 Optimising benefits from surplus mine dewater

Many mines operate in the ground below the watertable, therefore groundwater often is pumped from wells to dewater the mine and gain access to the minerals during active mining. This surplus dewater from mining operations offers potential uses for agriculture. However, there are many geological, geographic and economic constraints on the types of solutions that can be implemented and where.

In the Pilbara, where the vast majority of dewater surplus is generated, trials for the development of medium-scale to largescale agricultural precincts are underway. In addition, minerals other than iron ore (e.g. mineral sands) are beginning to be mined below the watertable in the Pilbara, providing learning opportunities that can potentially be applied in other regions and catchments.

Further work remains to be done relating to the commercial dimension of using surplus dewater, such as the testing and approvability of potentially higher value crops. Commercial models for the supply and receipt of surplus dewater for irrigated agriculture are needed. Successful models may help to develop business cases that demonstrate value to mining operations and irrigators alike, and clarify the obligations, duties and distribution of risks among miners and users.

What does our future look like?

Commercially viable and sustainable agricultural industries are developed through opportunities triggered by mine dewatering activities.

Current approaches

An example of a major study considering the broad environmental, social and economic costs and benefits of a range of water management and alternative use ideas for surplus mine dewater was conducted in the Pilbara starting in May 2010.29 Options for the Solomon Sustainable Water Scheme were modelled at scale, providing a methodology on the best use of excess water by quantifying its value in monetary terms. The longterm lifecycle costs and benefits (including environmental and social costs) of each were monetised, considered and compared.

Recommendations

57. Assess options for commercial models for the supply and receipt of surplus mine dewater for application to irrigated agriculture. Consider from the point of view of both miners and irrigators the following:

• mosaic-style arrangements linked to specific mines

• precinct-scale irrigated agriculture where water can be provided to a hub

• distribution of duties and obligations under each model or approach (including multiple suppliers to a hub)

• distribution and mitigation of risk between miners and irrigators under each model or approach, including that associated with mine closure

• demonstrate the value of beneficial use of surplus dewater to both parties (compared to agriculture based on sustainable water supply options)

• identify, on the above basis, the type of commercial concerns that would have the capacity and interest in such developments. 29 Fortescue Mining Group, Worley Parsons, EcoNomics, Assessment of Sustainable Water Strategies for the Solomon Mine, 2011

8. Improved data and information sharing

8.1 Data modelling and presentation

Although planners implicitly recognise risk and uncertainty in their work, data limitations can result in highly uncertain water resource assessments. This uncertainty is not often quantified and may result in potentially significant risk for sustainable regional developments.

Better targeted data collection (spatial and temporal) can reduce uncertainty in dynamic modelling predictions. More sophisticated tools can identify critical knowledge gaps and guide future data collection (and hence investment) by identifying optimal locations and the type of data to be collected.

We see a need for the adoption of highperformance computing capabilities for

water resource modelling that will improve predictive performance. However, accurate environmental data can be prohibitively expensive to collect. Developing new capabilities to style guide groundwater models in the CSIRO’s graphical processing unit (GPU) clusters and cloud-based systems could reduce the higher computational costs of water resource modelling, which requires exhaustive exploration of the parameter space.

The management of water resources in data-poor environments, as commonly experienced in groundwater systems, can be optimised using an ‘adaptive management’ platform. Adaptive resource management ensures that decision making is based on sound and current knowledge. It relies on the continual integration of newly acquired data into the water management models

and tools. The capability for ongoing data integration into modelling systems to accommodate the learning process is critical but not currently available.

Remote sensing data provides further opportunities for obtaining useful information. For example, data obtained through remote sensing devices can be retrieved and processed to develop indicators of water resource resilience and vulnerability. Such indicators can be reviewed in real-time by regulators. Improved online accessibility of this information would also benefit utilities, partners and the community.

Conventional modelling frameworks that mostly focus on hydrological processes often overlook social and economic factors, which are becoming important drivers of the system. Today it is possible to develop participatory simulations of water management that support stakeholder engagement in the decision-making process.

New modelling frameworks, such as agentbased modelling and simulation (ABMS), can explicitly represent real-world preferences, behaviours, interactions and goals of stakeholders in the system. ABMS can be used to analyse the role of social processes and micro-management strategies (e.g. social norms, voluntary compliance, peer pressure, cultural values and subsidies) in environmental outcomes, and how these processes might either impede or facilitate sustainable management. Using this approach, it would be possible to systematically evaluate, the collective impacts of different types of regulation prior to implementation.

What does our future look like?

Tools and techniques are available to optimise management and use of water resources for different scales and circumstances in order to deliver multiple benefits to different stakeholders.

Recommendation

58. Develop water resource management tools that permit quantification of predictive uncertainty (enabling risk- and reliability-based decision making)

59. Develop participatory simulations of water systems, particularly groundwater, that support stakeholder engagement in the decision making process

60. Develop data management systems that not only capture and store stationary data (e.g. hydrogeological information) or dynamic data (e.g. monitoring data), but also allow further integration with operational modelling capability.

61. Optimise the use and integration of remotely sensed data (Urban Monitor, Landsat images) to allow the tracking and communicating of changes in features of interest in a way that has previously not been possible. Consistent, objective and dependable information will improve risk assessments and decision making associated with water resource management practice.

8.2 Data sharing

Data and its management are essential to effective planning, monitoring and operation of water systems. Robust data provides a foundation to good decision making. We support initiatives to share data, which is likely to significantly increase opportunities for innovation.

In the case of the mining sector, data sharing from extensive monitoring networks has the potential to enable better regulation of multiple operations, catchment-scale water management, water stewardship, and beneficial access to mine dewater. In particular, hydrological controls and conditions are important inputs to the water balance that underpins many underlying cumulative, community and environmental issues.

Stakeholders in the mining sector differ in their views on data sharing, with some advocating public availability and others citing commercial confidentiality for at least some of their data. There is a need to carefully assess approaches to data sharing, including governance structures that reflect legal limitations, while at the same time reflecting the desire for wider stakeholder and citizen participation in environmental management. The interaction between the Department of Water’s requirements and reporting commitments under Commonwealth legislation must also be defined and recognised by mining industry.

What does our future look like?

The government, private sector and community have ready access to water resource information and data to inform their decision making.

Recommendations

62. Assess options for sharing water data within and between mining, agricultural and industrial users of water to enable:

• consistent approaches to hydrogeological modelling

• better regulation of multiple operations (cumulative impacts)

• catchment-scale water management and stewardship

• beneficial uses for surplus mine dewater.

The assessment should consider:

• options for data sharing that enable better water management and regulation, ranging from simple sharing to a common catchment-scale model. The relationship between cost effectiveness and potential impacts should be taken into consideration

• exemplars that may apply to the Western Australian resources context (e.g. Athabasca Canada, Surat Basin Queensland)

• critical success factors

• the history and practice of addressing commercial in confidence issues in the Western Australian context

• proof or otherwise of the ability to calculate information about production and costs from water data

• what (if anything) can be done to facilitate an appropriate data-sharing framework that achieves these goals with minimal need for legislative change.

9. Western Australia’s water future

Western Australia has made significant advances in water resource management in the past few decades. Water management has become more opportunistic and adaptive, with an emphasis on managing, rather than avoiding, risk. The Department of Water plays an important role in planning and allocating the supply of ground and surface water across Western Australia to allow the ongoing development and growth of the state. The Water Corporation has demonstrated innovation in management of our scheme supplies, initially in respect of desalination, and more recently with groundwater replenishment.

9.1 Previous water strategy

In response to several years of low rainfall, the State Government prepared a statewide water strategy in 2003. Building on this strategy, the State Water Plan30 sought to integrate water use and land-use planning.

Water planning should inform and integrate with land-use planning. Increasingly, it is intended that water planning should precede land-use planning. This provides an important natural resource management context for land planning and identifies resource opportunities, constraints and compatible land use activities.

Both the 2003 strategy and 2007 plan supported the concept of integrated water cycle management (IWCM) as the focus of water resource planning in the state. IWCM considers the water cycle as a whole and how planning for each element of water services (drinking water, wastewater, waterways, stormwater and groundwater) can merge to provide more sustainable economic, social and environmental outcomes. It links urban and water planning and brings forward new ways to reduce pressure on our drinking water supplies and stressed river systems.

However, water management is highly complex and challenging due in a large part to the high value placed on water by a large number of competing interests (urban, industrial, agricultural and environmental).

The challenges of water management are further complicated by consideration of current and future water demands, water availability, water quality, robust science (on quantity and quality), environmental costs and benefits, regulatory processes, suitable personnel (scheme and resource operators and managers), economic sustainability and social concerns.

IWCM is supported in the planning system through ‘State Planning Policy 2.9 Water Resources’31 and ‘Better Urban Water Management’32, although these documents have limited influence on decisions made about water supply or wastewater.

Although the Department of Water has a role in allocating and regulating surface and groundwater, its role in management of the total water cycle is limited.

A series of water supply and use options are available but require further validation. These include managed aquifer recharge, treated wastewater reuse (ranging from greywater to direct potable reuse) and brackish or saline groundwater desalination.

The intended update of the 2007 State Water Plan in 2012 did not occur and in 2016 there is effectively no clear whole-of-government approach to water management in place.

While the Water Corporation has continued to drive innovation within the scope of its remit, a broader approach is required in order to achieve the IWCM objectives articulated in the documents referred to above.

9.2 Moving forward

The Advisory Group believes the best opportunities for innovation will arise as a result of well-articulated and consistent government policy underpinned by appropriate governance arrangements. The state’s water future depends on the development of a whole-of-government approach that brings together and integrates the efforts and actions of government, local government, water service providers and the community. Defined social, cultural, economic and environmental objectives should underpin this overarching strategy. The strategy should provide:

• statewide and regional-scale assessments of current and future water requirements (sources, supplies, demand) and management options

• improved valuation and transparency of environmental and social externalities in determining future water management options

• total water cycle targets reported on annually.

The strategy should also clarify the role of the Department of Water in managing the water cycle in Western Australia, including water supply and wastewater disposal and reuse. The department’s ambit should include a role in developing strategic projects, particularly those with community benefit. It is important to ensure there are sufficient skills and resources within the department to support its function as an advisor and regulator.

31 http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/dop_pub_pdf/SPP_2_9.pdf

32 https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/741.asp

Water service providers are key actors in managing our water resources. However, their current role is viewed mainly as the provider of a ‘service’. The Advisory Group believes the state would be better served if the remit of the Water Corporation, Aqwest and Busselton Water was broadened to embed IWCM principles into their planning processes.

9.3 Support ongoing water innovation

Advances in technology, digitisation and connectivity, coupled with new ways of sharing opinions and influencing behaviours and values, are creating new opportunities for the water sector. Disruptive technologies are opening up new market applications that did not previously exist, accelerating the pace of technology adoption, strengthening corporate growth, and driving regulatory activity. For example, nano-membrane filters may allow households to go ‘off grid’, changing how consumers access water.

Innovation also provides the opportunity to develop ‘resilient’ design, defined as the intentional design of buildings, landscapes, communities and regions in response to vulnerabilities to disaster and disruption of normal life.

There are presently many innovative approaches being applied to water issues in Western Australia. In some cases, however, word of these projects is not communicated among stakeholders, which may limit further innovation, by limiting the opportunity to build upon successes.

The Department of Water needs to ensure that innovative approaches are embedded, and that ideas are further developed and implemented through an ongoing program of water innovation.

Existing programs that support innovation, such as the Water Services Association Technical Advisory Group that assesses new technology and conduct collaborative trials, should be supported and linked to existing research, such as the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, and with existing programs such as Watering WA and the ‘More Dollars per Drop’ program. Water innovation should align with the State Government’s broader innovation program, ‘Innovation: Transforming WA’, to ensure sufficient priority is given to advancing water innovation opportunities.

As part of this work, a database of existing water innovation initiatives underway in Western Australia, is provided electronically on the Department of Water website33.

33 www.water.wa.gov.au

Appendix A: Recommendations

Focus area

What does our future look like?

Recommendation

Supplementing scheme water supplies

Wastewater recycling All wastewater is injected into our aquifers or reused appropriately.

Non-drinking water systems

Water and wastewater pricing

Residential, commercial and industrial areas have access to non-drinking water sources (NDW) for fit-for-purpose use.

1. Evaluate the social, economic and environmental cost–benefit of the full range of wastewater recycling options in Western Australia.

2. Establish targets for those options considered viable, and develop policy mechanisms to evaluate prospective projects.

3. Mandate non-drinking water (NDW) schemes for new greenfield, multi-dwelling and activity centre development, and for water-intensive industrial development.

4. Review the process and requirements for obtaining a water services licence or NDW approval—and levels of measurement, validation and reporting—so they appropriately reflect the type of system and level of risk.

5. Develop a risk-sharing framework for alternative water source schemes that provide a public good or enhance urban liveability.

6. Incentivise NDW systems for external irrigation and for multistorey and commercial buildings.

Water source and supply options are determined on the basis of transparent environmental, social and economic lifecycle costs and benefits, both locally and systemically.

7. Open up the state’s system of water pricing and its determining factors, including improved valuation and transparency of environmental externalities in regulatory settings. Accessible information may influence new players.

8. Create an agreed interagency cost–benefit assessment framework to enable analyses of innovative ideas and the physical distribution of costs and benefits among all beneficiaries. The methodology published by the Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence may present a suitable basis for such a framework.

9. Seek EERC (Economic and Expenditure Reform Committee) support for an operating subsidy to private sector service providers wherever a clear case can be made in line with Attachment A of the State Government’s Operating Subsidy Guidelines or to contracting services, where the provider, customer and government can share costs.

Focus area What does our future look like?

Third party access to water infrastructure services

Renewable energy sources in the water cycle

Recommendation

Supplementing scheme water supplies (Cont.)

Third-party access creates competition in the water industry and fosters innovative water and wastewater solutions.

10. Review arrangements for third parties to purchase bulk water and wastewater services from the Water Corporation. In doing so, establish processes, terms and pricing arrangements that align with the public interest and make access arrangements as clear as possible from the outset. These provisions should also define when it is in the public interest to allow access to wastewater streams at zero price.

11. Clarify the Water Corporation’s position on access to pumping stations and pipelines for sewer mining by third-party providers. Note that the cost of headworks (infrastructure costs incurred to meet demand from new development) and ongoing charges should reflect the real costs to the Water Corporation.

Addressing the water energy nexus

Water production and treatment to be powered by renewable resources, including energy generated from the water networks themselves

12. Evaluate investment in the direct use of renewable energy in the water and wastewater operations of the Water Corporation and its supply chain. Implement targets for energy reduction.

13. Evaluate investment in solar photovoltaic and energy storage in terms of lifecycle cost and greenhouse gas mitigation.

14. Evaluate the viability of thermal (or hybrid) desalination techniques that use concentrated solar or geothermal energy sources in future desalination projects.

15. Encourage service providers (Department of Water, Aqwest, Busselton Water) to similarly identify opportunities to reduce the energy intensity of their water supply systems through investment in renewable energy.

16. Encourage the Department of Water and local governments to identify direct and indirect opportunities (e.g. through purchase agreement) for using renewable energy in the supply and use of water, particularly for irrigation.

17. Explore innovative power-generation technologies, such as fuel cells in wastewater treatment plants, and in-line mini hydropower systems to generate power from water pipelines.

18. Determine the potential cost–benefit of using one or more of the Water Corporation’s dams for PHES to store renewable energy, particularly from solar photovoltaics.

Focus area What does our future look like?

Liveability and the public domain

Recommendation

Delivering liveable cities

Our urban environments contain networks of welldesigned and high-quality green (vegetation) and blue (water) places and spaces that are comfortable, safe, diverse, accessible, loved, and enhanced by effective and sustainable water management.

19. Support local governments in the metropolitan area to secure alternative water supplies for public open space, particularly where there is insufficient groundwater to meet irrigation demands.

20. Develop incentives to support local governments in the metropolitan area to improve irrigation efficiency and introduce hydrozoning to help maintain liveable public open spaces.

21. Optimise the use of public land to deliver multiple benefits and efficiencies to the water cycle, community and environment.

22. Provide incentives, such as plot ratio/density bonuses, for green infrastructure that cleans, reduces and infiltrates stormwater runoff.

Managed recharge of the superficial aquifer in Perth

Drainage and green community space

A network of green (vegetation) and blue (water) infrastructure in cities and towns manages flood risk and water quality, and enhances opportunities for recreation and community wellbeing.

23. Identify suitable locations and opportunities to recharge the superficial aquifer with appropriately treated wastewater in the Perth metropolitan area. ‘Topping up’ will relieve pressure on stressed wetlands and waterways, and provide additional groundwater resources for irrigation.

24. Support the collaborative approach of the Drainage for Liveability Program to go beyond hydraulic objectives for the drainage system. If the program is unsuccessful in its implementation, we recommend more fundamental reform.

25. Facilitate the transfer of roles and responsibilities to local governments prepared to take ownership of drainage assets in order to manage them for multiple benefits.

26. Retrofit urban drainage systems so that side entry pits increase water infiltration, stormwater is directed towards street trees and vegetated areas, and liveability of the public domain is enhanced.

27. Develop a public score card system for drainage amenity, considering nutrients, pollutants, biodiversity and other community values (Department of Water).

Review implementation of Better Urban Water Management

An effective and outcome focussed approvals process for planning and development assists the creation of watersensitive cities.

28. Review the effectiveness of implementation of the Better Urban Water Management framework (WAPC, 2008) to identify opportunities for improvement. The influence on outcomes of other regulatory agencies, service providers and developers should be included.

29. Establish a peer review panel to help decision-making authorities assess innovative and best practice approaches to urban water management.

Focus area What does our future look like?

Review Department of Water allocation policy

Management of garden bores

Recommendation

Managing precious resources

30. Provide substantial opportunities for industry input on allocation policy as part of the water reform process.

31. Ensure the Department of Water clarifies rules about the range of criteria for recouping entitlements and issuing further entitlements.

Groundwater is used for domestic garden irrigation in an efficient and responsible manner.

Regulate the irrigation industry Irrigation systems which supply water for agriculture, public and private spaces are designed and installed to reflect best practice.

32. Apply meters to household garden bores, with abstraction limits based on property size and stormwater infiltration characteristics.

33. Prohibit the installation of new household bores in areas that are close to full allocation (or already over-allocated), unless it can be demonstrated that groundwater abstraction can be undertaken as part of a sustainable water balance.

34. Prohibit household bores in new developments with an existing non-drinking water supply.

35. Regulate the garden industry to ensure irrigation systems are installed in accordance with best practice design principles, system specifications and installation standards.

36. Support Irrigation Australia Limited (IAL) to highlight the importance of engaging certified professionals, both in the rural sector and in the urban setting.

37. Develop Western Australian Design Standards and Codes of Practice for the rural sector to provide a consistent guide for irrigation professionals.

38. Establish an exemption to irrigation restrictions when it is demonstrated that water usage ensures a sustainable water balance.

Community awareness of water

Community water literacy

The community understands the water cycle, and is capable of contributing meaningfully to decision making about waterrelated issues.

39. Develop a program to raise community awareness of water issues beyond scheme water,). This program should include:

• educational programs that will communicate ‘whole of water cycle’ messages to the community, including schools

• messages related to water-sensitive urban design at household scale

• partnerships with suppliers and industry to provide relevant information on household water efficiency and alternatives to scheme water (garden bores, rainwater and greywater systems)

• targeted messages with a sectorial focus to drive behaviour change, particularly ahead of reduced groundwater allocations.

Focus area What does our future look like?

Provision of additional water-use information

Recommendation

Community awareness of water (Cont.)

40. Expand current billing information to allow users to compare their water use with others in their locality, and at the same time remind them of the state’s per person targets

41. Modify water bills to state the amount of energy used to supply the volume of water used by the household. Compare this with previous years

42. Introduce mandatory disclosure of water efficiency features of a home at point of sale (potentially required through building regulations)

43. Publish online daily water use tables for each suburb and region (include estimates of private groundwater abstraction). Weather programs could broadcast end-ofseason reports about water usage (as is often done for rainfall).

Smart metering and data collection

Catchmentbased water cycle information portal

Immediate feedback is provided to households and water managers to demonstrate mains water use in real time and thus improve management, allowing users to make water and energy decisions with confidence.

Open source sharing of information results in better understanding and management of complex water systems and interactions by government, the private sector and the broader community. Utilities and users have the tool to understand and communicate water risk to local communities and put adaption plans in place.

Regional water supplies and services

44. Increase dynamic data capture by installing smart meters on all licensed bores.

45. Implement smart metering ‘packages’, particularly in new developments for network management, electronic billing and resident feedback potentially as a bundled service with other utilities, including Western Power/Synergy and ATCO/ Alinta Gas/Kleenheat.

46. Develop on information portal that provides time series information about the water cycle and water balance on a catchment scale, enabling the public to be informed about water availability and use.

Water in the regions

Regional towns and remote settlements have resilient water supply systems (drinking and non-drinking water) that are powered by renewable resources.

47. Investigate the potential for alternative levels of service to reduce costs in regional areas, including the use of rainwater tanks for drinking water.

48. Form a partnership with Horizon Power to fast-track the application of package-scale desalination or treatment plants (using renewable energy) for localised water solutions in regional and remote communities.

49. Support the expansion of services by Aqwest and Busselton Water into wastewater provision to optimise total water cycle outcomes and administration.

50. Develop a strategy for remote settlements to be serviced by locally operated integrated power and water operations utilising renewable energy.

Focus area What does our future look like?

Water for Agriculture

Recommendation

Water in the regions (Cont.)

Our state’s agricultural potential is unconstrained by the availability or cost of water.

Land tenure

Optimising benefits from surplus mine dewater

Successful agricultural industries with secure water supplies are thriving on Crown land previously dedicated to grazing.

Commercially viable and sustainable agricultural industries are developed through opportunities triggered by mine dewatering activities.

51. Facilitate and support more investment in agriculture based on research and feasibility studies through the Water for Food initiative. Effort should be focused on viable longterm agricultural projects that can attract the necessary investment to achieve scale.

52. Investigate advanced desalination techniques (small portable desalination units powered by wind or solar energy) to treat brackish water in salinity-affected areas. Consider also the issue of disposal or beneficial reuse of the waste brine product.

53. Support research and investment into crops that can grow in brackish water (such as Spirulina, a blue-green micro-algae) and new irrigation technology (e.g. trickle systems) to ensure that existing staple key food supply crops are suitable for changing climatic conditions.

54. Investigate the potential to leverage water management techniques from other water users, such as the mining, oil and gas sectors. For example, investigate the use of ‘partial damming’ to slow some of the water flowing through creeks and rivers (including mine dewater) to store in aquifers and abstract as needed for agriculture.

55. Support pastoral reform to diversify activities on existing pastoral and other Crown land leases to facilitate agricultural growth.

56. Investigate the value of a ‘one-stop-shop’ web portal to give potential investors access to detailed information about land and water in any area of the state.

57. Assess options for commercial models for the supply and receipt of surplus mine dewater for application to irrigated agriculture. Consider from the point of view of both miners and irrigators the following:

• mosaic-style arrangements linked to specific mines

• precinct-scale irrigated agriculture where water can be provided to a hub

• distribution of duties and obligations under each model or approach (including multiple suppliers to a hub)

• distribution and mitigation of risk between miners and irrigators under each model or approach, including that associated with mine closure

• demonstrate the value of beneficial use of surplus dewater to both parties (compared to agriculture based on sustainable water supply options)

• identify, on the above basis, the type of commercial concerns that would have the capacity and interest in such developments.

Focus area What does our future look like?

Recommendation

Improved data and information sharing

Data modelling and presentation Tools and techniques are available to optimise management and use of water resources for different scales and circumstances in order to deliver multiple benefits to different stakeholders.

58. Develop water resource management tools that permit quantification of predictive uncertainty (enabling risk- and reliability-based decision making)

59. Develop participatory simulations of water systems, particularly groundwater, that support stakeholder engagement in the decision making process

60. Develop data management systems that not only capture and store stationary data (e.g. hydrogeological information) or dynamic data (e.g. monitoring data), but also allow further integration with operational modelling capability.

61. Optimise the use and integration of remotely sensed data (Urban Monitor, Landsat images) to allow the tracking and communicating of changes in features of interest in a way that has previously not been possible. Consistent, objective and dependable information will improve risk assessments and decision making associated with water resource management practice.

Data sharing The government, private sector and community have ready access to water resource information and data to inform their decision making.

62. Assess options for sharing water data within and between mining, agricultural and industrial users of water to enable:

• consistent approaches to hydrogeological modelling

• better regulation of multiple operations (cumulative impacts)

• catchment-scale water management and stewardship

• beneficial uses for surplus mine dewater.

The assessment should consider:

• options for data sharing that enable better water management and regulation, ranging from simple sharing to a common catchment-scale model. The relationship between cost effectiveness and potential impacts should be taken into consideration

• exemplars that may apply to the Western Australian resources context (e.g. Athabasca Canada, Surat Basin Queensland)

• critical success factors

• the history and practice of addressing commercial in confidence issues in the Western Australian context

• proof or otherwise of the ability to calculate information about production and costs from water data

• what (if anything) can be done to facilitate an appropriate data-sharing framework that achieves these goals with minimal need for legislative change.

Appendix B: Summary of consultations

Workshops

Perth

On 2 June 2016 the Innovation Advisory Group convened a full-day workshop in Perth focusing on water innovation in Perth–Peel and regional cities in Western Australia. Seventy-eight participants— representing the private sector, local governments, the State Government, CSIRO, universities, natural resource management groups, interest groups and other organisations with links to the water sector—took part in the workshop held at Bendat Stadium in Mount Claremont. Attendees worked in groups to address six focus areas:

• scheme water sources and uses

• non-drinking water for urban and community uses, peri-urban agriculture and industry

• water cycle energy and emissions

• public realm green space

• bushland, waterway and wetland health.

About 500 individual ideas generated throughout the day have been compiled in a spreadsheet for the record. At the end of the day, the Advisory Group chose 10 ranked ideas for further development in an ‘Idea to action’ session.

Bunbury

On 27 July 2016 the Innovation Advisory Group hosted a half-day workshop at the Bunbury Entertainment Centre. The 37 participants represented private industry, local governments, the State Government, interest groups and water service providers. The workshop was organised along similar lines

as the Perth workshop mentioned above but with a focus on regional cities and industry in the south-west. The attendees worked in groups to address four focus areas:

• scheme water sources and uses

• non-drinking water for urban and community uses, peri-urban agriculture and industry

• water cycle energy and emissions

• waterway and estuary health

At the end of the session, participants worked in more detail through five ideas (selected from 140 ideas produced throughout the day) in an ‘idea to action’ session.

Industry-specific meetings

Chamber of Minerals and Energy

On 7 July 2016 the Chamber of Minerals and Energy Water Issue Group hosted a half-day workshop on innovation in the mining industry.

The 21 participants worked in groups to address four focus areas:

• optimising benefits from surplus mine dewater

• opportunities from changes to water data collection methods and technology

• effective engagement by the resources sector in increasingly complex water management issues

• the role of water in the environment — consistency in water and water-related environment asset valuation.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry

On 11 August 2016 the Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Environment Committee hosted a roundtable meeting where 22 participants considered innovative approaches to long-standing and emerging water challenges facing the industry sector.

Discussion focused on two issues:

• fit-for-purpose water for industry

• innovation through greater private participation in the water services sector.

Water Service Providers

On 27 July 2016 the Chair and two members of the Innovation Advisory Group met with representatives from Aqwest, Busselton Water and Harvey Water in Bunbury to discuss innovative options for water service providers in the south-west.

Representatives of the Water Corporation joined an Innovation Advisory Group meeting in Perth on 12 August 2016 to discuss water and innovation.

Online discussion forum

The Department of Water’s ‘YourSay’ website allows for interactive discussion. Anyone is able to read the content, but those wanting to take part in the discussion need to register through ‘Your Say WA Water’ by providing a name and email address.

Under the heading of ‘Water Innovation Conversation’, the department posted five

topics for the discussion forum. The first question of the five topics was posted in April and the most recent in September. They were:

• What changes do we need to make to improve the way we manage and make use of water in urban communities? (21 responses)

• How can we increase water security for regional towns? (4 responses)

• How do we create new markets, and expand current markets, for recycled water? (8 responses)

• How can we get better results from drainage assets and corridors to benefit communities and the environment? (8 responses)

• How can we reduce demand for water and adjust to a future with less rainfall? How can we become more climate resilient? (4 responses)

The topics generated a total of 45 responses.

Telephone interviews

In late August and early September 2016, the Director General Mike Rowe invited 75 stakeholders in the Southern Forests, Mid-West, Wheatbelt, Gascoyne, Pilbara and the Kimberley regions to take part in conversations about agriculture and innovation.

Sixteen stakeholders representing all six regions agreed to participate and gave indepth interviews to department staff. Their ideas and suggestions relating to innovation have been compiled into a report on agriculture stakeholder consultation.

Water Innovation

168 St Georges Terrace PERTH WA 6000

Phone: (08) 6364 7600

Fax: (08) 6364 7601

National Relay Service: 13 36 77

www.water.wa.gov.au 12180 25 1116