Latest news with #DepartmentofWaterandEnvironmentalRegulation
West Australian
12-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Water watchdog under fire: Just five inspections in North West for two trillion litres of allocations
There were only five on-ground inspections of water licence holders in the North West in four years, despite the region containing almost half of the water entitlement for the entire State. A scathing report released on Wednesday by the Office of the Auditor General found the government agency in charge of monitoring licence holders was not doing 'anywhere near enough' to protect water resources across WA and could not be confident licence holders weren't taking water illegally. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) is tasked with monitoring more than 12,000 water licences across WA. The licences are used for everyday life, industry, mining and agriculture, with 78 per cent of all water used across the State drawn from underground aquifers. These free licences allow for the extraction of more than four trillion litres of water annually — enough water to fill more than 1.7 million Olympic swimming pools. In the North West there are 907 licences for a combined water entitlement of 2045 gigalitres, or two trillion litres. But only five on-ground inspections were held in the North West between 2021 and 2024. In the Ord River Irrigation Area, DWER failed to follow the recommendations of its own specialists who determined that based on scientific evidence and research, 10 per cent of licensees should be inspected annually. Auditor General Caroline Spencer found that while DWER carried out more than 2000 compliance activities a year, that number had decreased over the past three years and most activities were desktop reviews of unverified meter readings and information reported by licence holders. On-ground inspections also decreased, dropping State-wide by 67 per cent between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024. Ms Spencer said despite increasing demand for water and a drying climate, DWER couldn't be confident that licence holders were meeting their licence conditions and that water was being extracted appropriately. 'This audit shows that DWER is not doing anywhere near enough to adequately protect our water resources, with compliance activities in recent years reactive and ad hoc,' she said. 'Poor management, over-extraction and illegal taking of water all threaten the long-term sustainability of our groundwater supplies and creates an uneven playing field for operators who are doing the right thing. 'As regulator, DWER has a critical role to ensure those licensed to extract and use water comply with their licence conditions.' Reports by the OAG in 2003 and 2009 also found the regulator's monitoring of water use in WA was not sufficient to ensure the resource was not being taken illegally. The report noted DWER had few staff to carry out on-ground inspections and while some compliance activities were performed by licensing officers, there were only seven dedicated compliance officers. In a response to the findings, DWER said it welcomed the report, would review its findings and implement improvements. It said the audit was held during a transitional period for its water assurance activities and while improvements were under way. 'An increase in enforcement activity under the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914, including the issuing of daily penalty notices, resulted in record fines for water assurance enforcement activities in 2024,' it said.
The Advertiser
11-06-2025
- General
- The Advertiser
'Poor management': regulator in hot water over licences
In one of Australia's driest states, authorities are not monitoring how much water is being pumped from the ground or if it's taken legally, a report says. Western Australia's auditor-general found that the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) was not enforcing the conditions on the more than 12,000 water licences. Often handed out for free, the licences allow more than four trillion litres of water to be extracted annually - enough to fill more than 1.7 million Olympic swimming pools. "DWER is not doing anywhere near enough to adequately protect our water resources, with compliance activities in recent years reactive and ad hoc," Auditor-General Caroline Spencer said. "Poor management, over extraction and illegal taking of water all threaten the long-term sustainability of our groundwater supplies and create an uneven playing field for operators who are doing the right thing." The report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, said the department's compliance checking activities have decreased over the past three years. Most are desktop reviews of unverified meter readings, with information reported by licence holders. On-the-ground inspections decreased by 67 per cent during the audit period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024, weakening the department's understanding of compliance. "Only five per cent of licence holders were visited in that time (and) in 2023-24, half of the regions saw no inspections all," Ms Spencer said. There is also no effective deterrence of future non-compliance because they are not prioritised for investigation. It's the third report by the Office of the Auditor-General that has found issues with the planning and monitoring of water use in WA. During the three years of the reporting period, 87 per cent of potential incidents of non-compliance were never assigned to a staff member to investigate. There was also no effective guidance to help staff assess the severity or impact of non-compliance. The report said this risked inconsistent outcomes or ineffective enforcement options. "(The regulator) needs to improve its enforcement approach, including more timely actions to address potential incidents of non-compliance and to better deal with and deter future breaches," Ms Spencer said. The department accepted the report findings and said it had improved its water compliance and enforcement functions "Since June 2024, there has been an increase in enforcement activity, including the issuing of daily penalty notices, which has resulted in a significant fine for water assurance enforcement activities in the current financial year," it said. The opposition accused the government of negligence. "This is a staggering failure of oversight ... the government has no idea whether it's being used lawfully or sustainably," water spokesman Peter Rundle said. In one of Australia's driest states, authorities are not monitoring how much water is being pumped from the ground or if it's taken legally, a report says. Western Australia's auditor-general found that the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) was not enforcing the conditions on the more than 12,000 water licences. Often handed out for free, the licences allow more than four trillion litres of water to be extracted annually - enough to fill more than 1.7 million Olympic swimming pools. "DWER is not doing anywhere near enough to adequately protect our water resources, with compliance activities in recent years reactive and ad hoc," Auditor-General Caroline Spencer said. "Poor management, over extraction and illegal taking of water all threaten the long-term sustainability of our groundwater supplies and create an uneven playing field for operators who are doing the right thing." The report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, said the department's compliance checking activities have decreased over the past three years. Most are desktop reviews of unverified meter readings, with information reported by licence holders. On-the-ground inspections decreased by 67 per cent during the audit period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024, weakening the department's understanding of compliance. "Only five per cent of licence holders were visited in that time (and) in 2023-24, half of the regions saw no inspections all," Ms Spencer said. There is also no effective deterrence of future non-compliance because they are not prioritised for investigation. It's the third report by the Office of the Auditor-General that has found issues with the planning and monitoring of water use in WA. During the three years of the reporting period, 87 per cent of potential incidents of non-compliance were never assigned to a staff member to investigate. There was also no effective guidance to help staff assess the severity or impact of non-compliance. The report said this risked inconsistent outcomes or ineffective enforcement options. "(The regulator) needs to improve its enforcement approach, including more timely actions to address potential incidents of non-compliance and to better deal with and deter future breaches," Ms Spencer said. The department accepted the report findings and said it had improved its water compliance and enforcement functions "Since June 2024, there has been an increase in enforcement activity, including the issuing of daily penalty notices, which has resulted in a significant fine for water assurance enforcement activities in the current financial year," it said. The opposition accused the government of negligence. "This is a staggering failure of oversight ... the government has no idea whether it's being used lawfully or sustainably," water spokesman Peter Rundle said. In one of Australia's driest states, authorities are not monitoring how much water is being pumped from the ground or if it's taken legally, a report says. Western Australia's auditor-general found that the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) was not enforcing the conditions on the more than 12,000 water licences. Often handed out for free, the licences allow more than four trillion litres of water to be extracted annually - enough to fill more than 1.7 million Olympic swimming pools. "DWER is not doing anywhere near enough to adequately protect our water resources, with compliance activities in recent years reactive and ad hoc," Auditor-General Caroline Spencer said. "Poor management, over extraction and illegal taking of water all threaten the long-term sustainability of our groundwater supplies and create an uneven playing field for operators who are doing the right thing." The report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, said the department's compliance checking activities have decreased over the past three years. Most are desktop reviews of unverified meter readings, with information reported by licence holders. On-the-ground inspections decreased by 67 per cent during the audit period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024, weakening the department's understanding of compliance. "Only five per cent of licence holders were visited in that time (and) in 2023-24, half of the regions saw no inspections all," Ms Spencer said. There is also no effective deterrence of future non-compliance because they are not prioritised for investigation. It's the third report by the Office of the Auditor-General that has found issues with the planning and monitoring of water use in WA. During the three years of the reporting period, 87 per cent of potential incidents of non-compliance were never assigned to a staff member to investigate. There was also no effective guidance to help staff assess the severity or impact of non-compliance. The report said this risked inconsistent outcomes or ineffective enforcement options. "(The regulator) needs to improve its enforcement approach, including more timely actions to address potential incidents of non-compliance and to better deal with and deter future breaches," Ms Spencer said. The department accepted the report findings and said it had improved its water compliance and enforcement functions "Since June 2024, there has been an increase in enforcement activity, including the issuing of daily penalty notices, which has resulted in a significant fine for water assurance enforcement activities in the current financial year," it said. The opposition accused the government of negligence. "This is a staggering failure of oversight ... the government has no idea whether it's being used lawfully or sustainably," water spokesman Peter Rundle said. In one of Australia's driest states, authorities are not monitoring how much water is being pumped from the ground or if it's taken legally, a report says. Western Australia's auditor-general found that the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) was not enforcing the conditions on the more than 12,000 water licences. Often handed out for free, the licences allow more than four trillion litres of water to be extracted annually - enough to fill more than 1.7 million Olympic swimming pools. "DWER is not doing anywhere near enough to adequately protect our water resources, with compliance activities in recent years reactive and ad hoc," Auditor-General Caroline Spencer said. "Poor management, over extraction and illegal taking of water all threaten the long-term sustainability of our groundwater supplies and create an uneven playing field for operators who are doing the right thing." The report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, said the department's compliance checking activities have decreased over the past three years. Most are desktop reviews of unverified meter readings, with information reported by licence holders. On-the-ground inspections decreased by 67 per cent during the audit period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024, weakening the department's understanding of compliance. "Only five per cent of licence holders were visited in that time (and) in 2023-24, half of the regions saw no inspections all," Ms Spencer said. There is also no effective deterrence of future non-compliance because they are not prioritised for investigation. It's the third report by the Office of the Auditor-General that has found issues with the planning and monitoring of water use in WA. During the three years of the reporting period, 87 per cent of potential incidents of non-compliance were never assigned to a staff member to investigate. There was also no effective guidance to help staff assess the severity or impact of non-compliance. The report said this risked inconsistent outcomes or ineffective enforcement options. "(The regulator) needs to improve its enforcement approach, including more timely actions to address potential incidents of non-compliance and to better deal with and deter future breaches," Ms Spencer said. The department accepted the report findings and said it had improved its water compliance and enforcement functions "Since June 2024, there has been an increase in enforcement activity, including the issuing of daily penalty notices, which has resulted in a significant fine for water assurance enforcement activities in the current financial year," it said. The opposition accused the government of negligence. "This is a staggering failure of oversight ... the government has no idea whether it's being used lawfully or sustainably," water spokesman Peter Rundle said.
West Australian
11-06-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
'Poor management': regulator in the dark over water use
Authorities are not monitoring how much water is being pumped from the ground in one of Australia's driest states or if it's taken legally, a report says. Western Australia's auditor-general found that the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) was not enforcing the conditions on the more than 12,000 water licences. Often handed out for free, the licences allow more than four trillion litres of water to be extracted annually - enough to fill more than 1.7 million Olympic swimming pools. "DWER is not doing anywhere near enough to adequately protect our water resources, with compliance activities in recent years reactive and ad hoc," Auditor-General Caroline Spencer said. "Poor management, over extraction and illegal taking of water all threaten the long-term sustainability of our groundwater supplies and create an uneven playing field for operators who are doing the right thing." The report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, said the department's compliance checking activities have decreased over the past three years. Most are desktop reviews of unverified meter readings, with information reported by licence holders. On-the-ground inspections decreased by 67 per cent during the audit period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024, weakening the department's understanding of compliance. "Only five per cent of licence holders were visited in that time (and) in 2023-24, half of the regions saw no inspections all," Ms Spencer said. There is also no effective deterrence of future non-compliance because they are not prioritised for investigation. It's the third report by the Office of the auditor-general that has found issues with the planning and monitoring of water use in WA. During the three years of the reporting period, 87 per cent of potential incidents of non-compliance were never assigned to a staff member to investigate. There was also no effective guidance to help staff assess the severity or impact of non-compliance. The report said this risked inconsistent outcomes or ineffective enforcement options."(The regulator) needs to improve its enforcement approach, including more timely actions to address potential incidents of non-compliance and to better deal with and deter future breaches," Ms Spencer said. The opposition accused the government of negligence. "This is a staggering failure of oversight ... the government has no idea whether it's being used lawfully or sustainably," water spokesman Peter Rundle said. The department has been contacted for comment.
Perth Now
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
'Poor management': regulator in the dark over water use
Authorities are not monitoring how much water is being pumped from the ground in one of Australia's driest states or if it's taken legally, a report says. Western Australia's auditor-general found that the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) was not enforcing the conditions on the more than 12,000 water licences. Often handed out for free, the licences allow more than four trillion litres of water to be extracted annually - enough to fill more than 1.7 million Olympic swimming pools. "DWER is not doing anywhere near enough to adequately protect our water resources, with compliance activities in recent years reactive and ad hoc," Auditor-General Caroline Spencer said. "Poor management, over extraction and illegal taking of water all threaten the long-term sustainability of our groundwater supplies and create an uneven playing field for operators who are doing the right thing." The report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, said the department's compliance checking activities have decreased over the past three years. Most are desktop reviews of unverified meter readings, with information reported by licence holders. On-the-ground inspections decreased by 67 per cent during the audit period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024, weakening the department's understanding of compliance. "Only five per cent of licence holders were visited in that time (and) in 2023-24, half of the regions saw no inspections all," Ms Spencer said. There is also no effective deterrence of future non-compliance because they are not prioritised for investigation. It's the third report by the Office of the auditor-general that has found issues with the planning and monitoring of water use in WA. During the three years of the reporting period, 87 per cent of potential incidents of non-compliance were never assigned to a staff member to investigate. There was also no effective guidance to help staff assess the severity or impact of non-compliance. The report said this risked inconsistent outcomes or ineffective enforcement options."(The regulator) needs to improve its enforcement approach, including more timely actions to address potential incidents of non-compliance and to better deal with and deter future breaches," Ms Spencer said. The opposition accused the government of negligence. "This is a staggering failure of oversight ... the government has no idea whether it's being used lawfully or sustainably," water spokesman Peter Rundle said. The department has been contacted for comment.
Perth Now
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
REVEALED: The Perth suburb set for new basketball courts
It's game on for outdoor basketball lovers as the City of Joondalup will once again consider new outdoor basketball facilities. At Tuesday's council meeting, the council voted to consider the installation of new outdoor basketball facilities as part of its upcoming annual budget process. Council also voted to ensure that the City gives due regard to the impact of noise from the outdoor basketball facility on nearby residents, by noting that any new outdoor basketball facility would still need to comply with the requirements of the Environment Protection (Noise) Regulations act, which any outdoor basketball facilities in WA must comply with. Your local paper, whenever you want it. They noted that clear State Government guidelines around the provision of outdoor basketball facilities were unlikely to proceed, which had caused years of uncertainty around outdoor basketball facilities. The city has faced challenges over installing basketball courts since 2021 from noise complaints and uncertainty surrounding the status of State-level policies. The basketball ring at Braden Park in Marmion before it was removed in early 2022. Credit: Tyler Brown The most notable case of community debate over basketball facilities is Braden Park in Marmion. In 2019, the council received a petition with 165 signatures requesting a basketball pad as part of the Braden Park playground renewal, with construction scheduled for 2021. Seventy-nine per cent of surveyed residents supported the installation. However, the city later received a second petition with 68 signatures calling for the removal of the basketball pad and four-square court. Despite 77.2 per cent of surveyed residents living within 200 metres opposing its removal, the basketball pad was removed in early 2022 just five months after it was installed. Calls to have the basketball pad reinstalled just weeks later prompted the city to review its policies, which ultimately decided that any action should be delayed until expected guidelines from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation were released. However, the draft guidelines on noise from outdoor community basketball facilities were withdrawn by DWER in February 2023, leaving local governments to continue managing existing facilities. Currently, the city has basketball facilities at 47 of its public open spaces, ranging from full courts to three-on-three pads and one-on-one pads. 'Outdoor recreational basketball facilities provide health and wellbeing benefits to the community and have proved to be very popular with people of all ages and abilities,' a report said. 'It, however, unfortunately can also be polarising within a community, and as such the provision of these facilities should be considered carefully on a case-by-case basis.' Despite noise concerns plaguing certain locations, the city does not believe it to be a widespread issue. There are 17 pads less than 50 metres from homes. The closest is at Chadstone Park in Craigie, where a one-on-one pad sits just 21 metres from the nearest residence. Falkland Park in Kinross, at 147 metres, is the furthest. 'Undesirable noise associated with basketball play does not appear to be an issue at most of these locations as the city has, over the years, received complaints from a small number of nearby residents at only a couple of locations,' city officers said. 'Where a complaint has been received, the city has investigated the matters raised and taken the most appropriate action depending on the specific circumstances.' Measures taken to address concerns include noise monitoring, backboard modifications, time restrictions, education, and CCTV surveillance. It remains unclear if the basketball pad at Braden Park in Marmion will be reinstated.
