Water is a precious resource and the City is committed to using water efficiency. The City uses both scheme (tap) water and groundwater (bore water) in its operations and activities.
The City has implemented a range of water management initiatives to promote conservation and resilience in the face of changing conditions. These initiatives are outlined below.
Using groundwater
The City relies primarily on groundwater to irrigate its public open spaces and is committed to irrigating in the most efficient manner to balance sustainable water use with meeting community expectations for green public open spaces. The following provides further context about the City’s groundwater use:
- The City heavily relies on the Gnangara groundwater system, a crucial water source for lakes, wetlands and bushlands.
- The Water Corporation extracts groundwater for drinking water, alongside other licensed users and domestic bore owners, regulated by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation.
- The 2022 Gnangara Groundwater Allocation Plan addresses these environmental concerns, advocating for a 10% reduction in all groundwater licenses, including the City's, by 2032. This reduction will be achieved through enhanced water efficiency measures, with a primary focus on irrigation.
Improving water efficiency
The biggest use of water by the City is to irrigate public parks and ovals. Each year, the City implements projects to reduce water use. These projects include:
- Hydrozoning existing parks and playground areas. This involves removing irrigated grassed areas and replacing them with mulched native gardens which require a lot less water
- Installing efficient irrigation controls and sensors, allowing irrigation systems to be turned off remotely and immediately, and allowing low water irrigation profiles to be developed for each individual grassed area
- Tracking and monitoring the City’s groundwater and scheme water usage to monitor for leaks and anomalies in water usage
- Using native plants for street trees and planting programs. Trees provide shade, cool surrounding areas, and improve water retention in the soil therefore reducing water use.
- Encouraging residents to reduce water use, by planting locally native plant species in home gardens, which need a lot less water than lawn and exotic plants.
Waterwise Council recognition
The City has achieved Waterwise Council status since 2010/11. This status was upgraded to Gold Waterwise Council in 2015/16 and has been recognised as a Gold Waterwise Council ever since.
The City earned the prestigious Platinum Waterwise Council of the Year award in 2020/21 for exceptional water-saving strategies and progress in water efficiency.
Each year, the City implements a Waterwise Council Action Plan, focusing on water efficiency projects for both operations and residential water conservation.
Additionally, Craigie Leisure Centre is acknowledged as a Waterwise Aquatic Centre, demonstrating its commitment to best practices in water management.
Supporting waterwise communities
As part of the City’s involvement and recognition as a Waterwise Council, funding received from Water Corporation has assisted the City in running waterwise initiatives to encourage the community to be more waterwise.
Recent City waterwise initiatives include:
- The City has developed a Stormwater Management Policy which incorporates the principles of water sensitive urban design into stormwater management to protect local waterways from contaminants and other pollutants.
- Since 2013, over 40 drainage sites have been beautified under the City’s Sump Beautification Program transitioning fenced concrete sumps into usable and efficient green spaces.
- Installing waterwise demonstration gardens that showcase the beauty and range of waterwise native plants.
- Hosting waterwise and native gardening workshops for residents.
- Running a Waterwise Verge Garden Rebate Program in 2022/23 to encourage residents to convert their verges into waterwise native gardens, which use a lot less water than lawns and are more waterwise than hardstand verge treatments.
- Running the Native Plant Giveaway in 2023/24, giving away over 7,500 native plants to residents.
Residents can find out how to be more sustainable and waterwise by visiting our Sustainable living page.