d roug h t r ese r ve in a drying climate Pr e s e ntation to the U n iversity of Melbo u rne L a w S c h o ol W orks h op on W ater Gov e rnan ID: 808559
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Slide1
Grou
n
dwater as a “drought reserve” in a drying climate
Presentation to the University of Melbourne Law SchoolWorkshop on Water Governance for ResilienceAlex Gardner Faculty of Law, UWA
25/
0
9/
1
4
Slide2Overv
iew:
Reforms for groundwater
drought reserveOrienting South West Western AustraliaNational water policy reformsPlanning for climate change adaptati
o
n
Ent
i
tl
e
m
e
nt
h
o
ld
e
rs savi
n
g
wat
e
r
Concl
u
sions
-
gr
o
u
n
dwa
t
er
b
a
sed
s
y
stem
Slide31. O
rienting South West WA
Surface water yield 1/4 of 1970
Groundwater makes up around three quarters of water useTotal groundwater use around 850GL/yr (2009 estimate)Self-supply for gardens, public open space, horticulture, mining, industry is around 700GL/yr
important
for
public water supply (~150GL/yr and 40% of IWSS)New alternative sources:Desalination 150 GL/yr (from 2006)Recycled water; GWR 28 GL/yrDemand management
environmental water allocationsfrequently breached
Source: CSIRO 2009
3
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0
9/
1
4
Slide4Rainfall trend since 1987
- predicted
vs actual4
Slide5Pu
blic water su
pply strategy
0
50
1
0
0
1
5
0
2
0
0
2
5
0
3
0
0
G
I
G
A
L
IT
R
E
S
SUPP
L
Y
AND
DEMAND
F
O
R
TH
E INT
E
G
R
A
TE
D SCHEME (I
W
SS)
3
5
0
G
ro
u
nd
w
a
t
e
r
Se
c
urity
S
trat
e
gy
1
9
40 1
9
45 1
9
50 1
9
55 1
9
60 1
9
65 1
9
70 1
9
75
1
9
80 1
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85
Y
E
AR
1
9
90 1
9
95 2
0
00 2
0
05 2
0
10 2
0
15 2
0
20
So
uth
e
rn
S
e
awat
e
r
D
e
salin
a
t
i
o
n Plant
P
e
r
t
h
S
e
awat
e
r
De
salination
Plant
G
ro
u
nd
w
a
t
e
r
S
up
p
l
y
Sur
f
a
c
e
Wat
e
r
(
i
n
c
lu
d
i
n
g trad
e
)
Source:
W
ater
C
orporati
o
n
(2013)
Slide6Groun
dwater resources declin
ingGnangar
a SuperficialGnangara ConfinedSW Ramsar wetland: declining water table impacts water quality
Slide7Conf
i
ned
a
qu
i
f
er well
G
n
an
gar
a
Grou
n
dwa
t
er
S
yst
e
m
R
i
ver
Guild
f
o
r
d
C
lay
ial
Conf
i
ni
ng
B
ed
t l
au
F
vi
l
l
e
a
q
uif
e
r
ng
arli
ed
D
In
d
ian
Oce
a
n
L
e
e
d
er
Conf
i
ni
ng
B
Conf
i
ni
ng
B
ed
Yar
r
agadee
a
q
uif
e
r
S
u
pe
r
fic
a
q
uif
e
r
C
oa
s
tal
Limestone
Wet
l
a
nd
R
a
i
nf
a
ll
S
up
erfi
c
ial
a
qu
i
f
er
well
B
as
s
e
n
d
e
an
S
a
n
d
C
a
ves
25/09/
1
4
Slide82. National
Water Policy Reforms
RiWI Act turns 100
, 22 Sept 2014Current Law (since 2001)Landholder eligibility to hold licenceNo statutory plans or consumptive
p
o
ol
– non-statutory allocation limits10 yr licences with tradable entitlementsEntitlements = maximum annual volumePoor water accoun
ting & enforcementLegal environmenta
l water all
ocations u
nder EIA
l
a
w
or
w
at
e
r
l
i
ce
n
ce
co
n
d
i
tio
n
s
N
a
tion
a
l
W
ater
Initiative
r
efor
m
s
pr
o
p
o
sed
b
u
t
co
n
sta
n
tly d
e
l
a
y
ed
si
n
ce
2
0
0
6
:
Statutory
al
location
limits a
nd p
lans
forc
onsum
ptive pool(
s)
Trad
able
perpetual
share e
ntitlements
Environment
al wate
r holder
Slide93. Cl
imate change andgroundwater planning
Currently no requirement in the
RIWI Act to consider climate change risks in groundwater planning (cf Water Act 2007 (Cth))In practice, limited use of climate changescenarios in non-statutory allocation plansThis is changing - DoW has new GIS tool to produce ‘futu
r
e climate’
scenarios
for any part of WA, to be used in future water planning.25/09/149
Slide10Law reform
proposal:duty
to address climate change
The new water resource management legislation should require the Minister to consider climate change risks in the preparation of statutory water a
l
l
o
cati
on plans and to address those risks in the plan provisions: for example,declining allocation limits over plan lifezoning areas for no consu
mptive use,including by domestic bores
25/09/1
4 10
Slide114.
Groundwater as a
‘drought reserve’Can groundwa
ter be sustainably used as adrought reserve in a drying climate?What regulatory arrangements would best support this?Case study: groundwate
r
as a
d
roughtreserve for the IWSS public water supplyRegulatory options for entitlements saving water30/07/1411
Slide12The
Variable GroundwaterExt
raction Rule (VGAR) for IWSS25/09/14
12
Slide13Fail
ure of the VGAR
in a drying climateProblem: In a declining rainfall trend
the VGAR results in sustained high groundwater abstraction, compounding the effects of low recharge on the groundwater system (DoW, 2013)DoW solution: 5 year, 110GL/yr average extraction for the Integrated Water Supply Scheme.25/09/1413
Slide14Groun
dwater
as a ‘drought reserve’:- regulatory options for entitlementsEntitlement
holders have:carryover and borrowing rights in suitable aquiferscompulsory ‘banking’ (eg 10% of entitlement) accessible only on ministerial declarationDepartment reserv
e
s wa
t
er
and auctions shortterm licences on ministerial declarationIndependent water holder retains water entitlements in suitable aquifers that it auctions in extreme droughtManaged Aquifer Recharge of recycled water should include a restoration share
26/09/14 14
Slide15Conclusions
for a Groundwater based syst
emInformation
challenges – especially modelingNWI reforms – they are not enoughLong term water resources assessment and climate a
d
a
pt
a
tion planningNWI flexibility of share entitlements with obligations to plan for clima
te change- statutory du
ties to model,
zone
and s
a
ve
Urban
water
sup
p
ly
–
al
t
er
n
at
i
ve
sources
Social
a
n
d cu
l
tur
a
l
valu
e
s