07 Apr 2006 - Sydney, Australia
A decision by the Western Australia government
to sign on to Australia's National Water Initiative
(NWI) is a significant step towards securing sustainable
water management in the State, says WWF, the global
conservation organization.
The National Water Initiative
is a plan that sets out key requirements for best
practice water resource management and we congratulate
the Western Australia Government for committing
to this plan, says James Duggie, WWF-Australia's
water conservation officer.
If it is implemented properly,
the initiative can ensure a secure water future
for all Western Australians and the environment.
Fulfilling the commitments of
the NWI will ensure the health of river and groundwater
systems, sustain rural and urban communities,
and increase productivity and efficiency of water
use.
Fundamental to the success of
the NWI is proper planning processes which identify
and protect environmental needs. The WA government
is doing well in some aspects of water resource
management, and its current water reform process
is an important part of delivering further improvements.
Further significant improvements
are urgently needed in a number of important areas.
Five aspects of water resource
management addressed in the NWI that WA still
needs to improve on are:
developing statutory water allocation plans
for all of the States water resources, that include
adequate allocations of water for the environment;
expansion of on-going water resource investigations
to improve water accounting;
substantial improvement in water efficiencies
through expanded water efficiency programs;
increased rates of water recycling;
protection of high conservation aquatic ecosystems.
WWF looks forward to both the WA and other state
governments in Australia allocating substantial
additional funding for appropriate water resource
management measures, which is essential for the
implementation of the NWI.
WA is the last of all the Australian
States and Territories to sign up to the National
Water Initiative. WWF has been calling on the
State to join the Initiative since the NWI was
first signed by the Commonwealth Government and
the majority of States in June 2004.
