Water Management
The City is committed to improving the community’s water management through development and implementation of Water Management Plans, participation in the Waterwise Council program and undertaking Surface Water Quality monitoring program for the City’s water catchments.
In 2017, the City developed and endorsed the Water Management Plan 2017-2022 to address current corporate and community water management issues related to water conservation, quality and management. This Plan identified water management actions that assists in achieving set water consumption and water quality goals.
Waterwise Council Program
The Water Corporation’s Waterwise Council Program helps councils become water efficient in their operations, set targets for corporate and community water use and provides information for communities on water conservation.
In 2010, the City joined the Waterwise Council program due to its commitment to water management and conservation practices and the successful completion of the previous Water Campaign™ milestone framework.
The City undertakes the following activities annually, as part of its participation in the Water Corporation’s Waterwise Council Program:
- Completes scheme and groundwater consumption inventories to determine the City’s high consuming corporate facilities
- Implements the Water Efficiency Action Plan and Water Management Plan
- Reports to Council on water management improvements and achievements
- Applies for Waterwise council status re-endorsement.
In May 2022, the City has been recognised as one of the State’s leading waterwise local governments, having recently earned a Gold endorsement at a special ceremony hosted by the Water Corporation.
- Eco and hydro zoning of public open spaces
- Water efficient irrigation systems
- Water efficient appliances in the council administration buildings and public facilities
- Online water use monitoring and reporting
- Identification and rectification of water leaks
- Waterwise demonstration gardens
- Waterwise education for staff and community
- Water sensitive urban design implementation in construction and revegetation projects.
In March 2021, the City with the Water Corporation support held a Water Sensitive Cities Indexing workshop to develop a Water Sensitive City and identify a number of actions to achieve this vision that are formalised in the Water Sensitive Cities Benchmarking and Assessment Report.
Integrated catchment management
The City of South Perth follows an Integrated Catchment Management Plan to address urban stormwater management in conjunction with the State Government and drainage utilities.
The plan provides a best practice framework for enhancing and protecting the natural environment while:
- Prioritising issues associated with stormwater and drainage
- Reducing the likelihood of flooding
- Managing infrastructure assets
- Identifying strategies for involving industry, the community and government in managing catchment areas
- Identifying water quality issues.
Water quality monitoring and reporting
- Conduct surface water and sediment sampling and utilise previous water quality monitoring data to characterise water and sediment quality within the City’s catchments by:
- Identifying areas of poor water and sediment quality and considering their potential sources
- Identifying possible impacts, including from acid sulfate soils to water and sediment quality from the surrounding development
- Assessing the functionality of the wetland system to compensate any water quality problems before water enters the Swan and Canning River Systems
- Comparing results to previously collected water quality data to detect any changes in water quality over time.
- Make recommendations based upon the above for structural and non-structural measures that could be enacted to improve catchment water quality.
A Nutrient Survey and Nutrient Management Scorecard is developed by SERCUL annually to identify how and where the City can improve its water quality management practices.
