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Planning the Water Future » Water reform » Water Reform Program

Water Reform Program

The Report of the Irrigation Review Steering Committee, conducted under the auspices of the State Water Strategy, initiated a significant water reform agenda in Western Australia, particularly in the following areas:

  • Enhancing the value of water entitlements
  • Facilitating water trading
  • Improving management controls through water metering
  • Recovering water resource management costs
  • Driving water use efficiency
  • Increasing self-management
  • Improving the protection of agricultural land through the integration of land and water planning

In each of the above areas the starting point is the Government Response to the Irrigation Review Final Report. The reform agenda has been given greater urgency and direction with Western Australia's signing of the National Water Initiative in April 2006. The Government has charged a Water Reform Implementation Committee with coordinating the implementation reform agenda, which must now take into account and give effect to the relevant directions contained within the National Water Initiative.

The Government has also committed to the development of a State Water Plan and Regional Water Plans and these provide important directions for Water Reform Program.

In July 2006, the Water Reform Implementation Committee issued a Draft Blueprint for water reform in Western Australia and a series of detailed directions papers that provided the basis for extensive stakeholder and community consultation. Regional workshops were held throughout Western Australia in July – September 2006.

The Water Reform Implementation Committee provided its final advice on these matters to the Government at the end of 2006 to enable those matters that require legislative amendment to be incorporated into the legislative reform program proposed for 2007-08.

The Government released its response to the Committee’s final advice and recommendations in February 2007. The Government is committed to better managing our water resources and has accepted the vast majority of the Committee’s 72 recommendations.