The greater Perth area of the Swan Avon region is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in Australia and home to waterways and wetlands of national and state significance.
The Swan River and Perth's wetlands are an important part of our sense of place. However, many decades of growth, changing land and water use practices and a drying climate have altered the environment and threatened the sustainability of the water resources.
The Perth Basin is the largest and most important groundwater resource in the region and across the Swan Coastal Plain. A large part of that is the Gnangara groundwater system, which in addition to supplying nearly half of Perth's drinking water is also in great demand for self-supply use by agriculture and irrigation of recreational areas and domestic gardens. The region's aquifers are also essential to a wide range of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, including permanent and seasonal wetlands, springs and caves.
Reservoirs along the Darling Scarp supply water to Perth's integrated water supply scheme as well as the Goldfields and agricultural water supply scheme. Climate change has reduced inflows to these dams and water supplies are increasingly reliant on desalination, groundwater and water recycling.
Water allocation plans
Water allocation planning in the Swan Avon region is focused on optimising how water is taken to meet the needs of people and the environment in a time of changing climate and increasing water demand.
You can read more about the water allocation plans in this region:
