- Water Corporation
-
Water Corporation 
Agency overview Formed 1 January 1996 Preceding agency Water Authority of Western Australia Jurisdiction Government of Western Australia Agency executive Sue Murphy, Chief Executive Officer Website www.watercorporation.com.au Contents
Overview
The Water Corporation is the principal supplier of water, wastewater and drainage services throughout the state of Western Australia. Its operations cover an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, or about one third of the Australian continent, making it one of the world’s broadest operating areas for this industry.
The Corporation is owned by the Western Australian Government and is accountable to its sole shareholder, the Minister for Water. Most of its profits are returned to the Government as a dividend to contribute to state development. It conducts business under an operating licence and a customer charter, and is guided by a Customer Advisory Council.
The Corporation employs more than 3,000 people and operates infrastructure valued at about $12 billion (AUD). Its capital works program in 2009/10 totalled a record $1.1 billion.
Formation
The Water Corporation was created in January, 1996, in a restructure of the water industry in Western Australia. It replaced the state’s Water Authority to establish a more business focused organisation and to separate the user and regulator functions of water allocation. The new Water Corporation saw a cultural shift to more robust planning and development. It had a more commercially focused Board with commercial and professional directors charged with driving the Corporation to achieve defined strategies and goals.
The Water Authority in turn had been created in 1985 through a merger of the former Metropolitan Water Authority, which operated in Perth, the state capital, and the water and wastewater operations of the former WA Public Works Department.
Operations
The Water Corporation:
- Delivers water services to more than 1.114 million properties
- Supplies more than 369 gigalitres (billion litres) of water per year
- Collects 150 gigalitres of wastewater per year
- Operates more than 33,000km of water mains, and 15,000km of sewer mains
Main water supply schemes
Integrated Water Supply System – services the Perth metropolitan area, Mandurah, some nearby towns and the Goldfields and Agricultural Water Supply scheme to Kalgoorlie-Boulder and agricultural areas.
This scheme is supplied from groundwater, seven major dams in Perth and several smaller dams in Perth and the South West and a seawater desalination plant. A second seawater desalination plant just north of Bunbury is due to begin production at the end of 2011.
Groundwater, supplying up to one half of the system’s needs, is obtained from huge natural reservoirs in the deep sands of the Perth coastal plain. It is treated at plants at Jandakot, Mirrabooka, Wanneroo, Neerabup, Lexia and Gwelup.
Great Southern Towns Water Supply Scheme - is sourced at the Harris Dam, near Collie, to supply more than 40,000 people in Collie and 32 towns in the Upper Great Southern region.
West Pilbara Water Supply Scheme - meets the domestic and industrial needs of the coastal ports and towns of Dampier, Karratha, Cape Lambert, Wickham, Roebourne and Point Samson in the north western Pilbara region. Its two main sources of water are a borefield in the Millstream aquifer and the Harding Dam.
Wastewater systems
Towns and cities across Western Australia have local wastewater collection and treatment systems that are operated either by the Water Corporation or local authorities. The Perth metropolitan area system is operated by the Water Corporation and is served by three major wastewater treatment plants, at Beenyup, Subiaco and Woodman Point, and six smaller ones in outlying areas. These deal with about 290 million litres of wastewater per day. A major new scheme incorporating a treatment plant and ocean outfall is due for commissioning in late 2010 at Alkimos in the new northern suburbs, while another new scheme is in an advanced stage of planning for East Rockingham in the growing southern suburbs.
Irrigation
The Water Corporation provides more than 240 gigalitres per year of bulk water supplies to irrigation schemes operated by farmer cooperatives in the North West (Ord Irrigation District), Mid West (Gascoyne Irrigation District) and South West (South West and Preston Valley Irrigation Districts).
Drainage
The Water Corporation manages main drainage systems in Perth and some regional areas to prevent flooding and optimise land usage while minimising impacts on property and protecting the natural environment. These services involve about 2,250 kilometres of rural main drains and more than 900 kilometres of drains in the Perth metropolitan area. Local councils manage most of Perth’s smaller reticulation drains. Corporation drainage services benefit 320,000 hectares of agricultural land in parts of the South West and Albany on the south coast.
Planning for the future
To ensure water services for a state that is growing rapidly yet at the same time suffering reduced rainfall as a result of climate change, the Water Corporation plans well ahead on multiple fronts. It aims to reduce water use and increase wastewater recycling while developing new water sources with a strong focus on those that are independent of climate. At the same time, it aims to reduce environmental impact from its operations.
It is estimated that by 2030, 70 to 100 gigalitres of additional water will be required, subject to the targets for reducing water use and water recycling being achieved. If these targets are not achieved, the need for new sources will increase even further.
Water Forever – Towards Climate Resilience, is the Corporation’s 50-year plan to deliver sustainable water and wastewater to Perth and surrounding areas including the Goldfields and Agricultural regions. A similar plan has been undertaken for water supplies to several south coast towns centred on Albany. The plans have been developed with extensive community and industry input.
References
External links
Categories:- Government-owned companies of Western Australia
- Water companies of Australia
- Water management in Western Australia
- Australia government stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
