Due to increasing community pressure to access Perth’s dams for recreation, the Western Australian government established an inquiry to investigate the impacts of recreation in public drinking water source areas.
It was led by the Standing Committee on Public Administration and ran from 2009 to 2010. The committee found that recreation in natural environments is important for various reasons but that the protection of drinking water sources remains the paramount consideration. The committee released its report in September 2010.
The department updated its recreation policy for public drinking water source areas in response to the results of the inquiry.
