Water Corporation (Western Australia)

Water Corporation
Agency overview
Formed 1 January 1996
Preceding agency
Agency executive
  • Choolwe Kanini, chief executive officer
Website www.WaterCorporation.com.au

The Water Corporation is the principal supplier of water, wastewater and drainage services throughout the state of Western Australia. It is the seventh successive agency to deal with the services in Perth, Western Australia.

With offices in Perth, Bunbury, Albany, Karratha, Geraldton, Northam and Kalgoorlie, the corporation's services, projects and activities span 2.6 million square kilometres.

The corporation employs over 3,000 people and manages an asset base over $15 billion[1] (AUD) in water supply, wastewater, drainage infrastructure and bulk water for irrigation.

The corporation is owned by the Western Australian Government and is accountable to its sole shareholder, the Minister for Water. Most of the corporation's surplus is returned to the Government as a dividend to contribute to the development of the state, with the remainder invested in capital works.

Formation

The Water Corporation was created in January 1996, in a restructure of the water industry in Western Australia.

The Water Authority in turn had been created in 1985 through a merger of the former Metropolitan Water Authority, which operated in Perth, the state capital, and the water and wastewater operations of the former WA Public Works Department.

Earlier agency names

Operations

During 2012–2013, the Water Corporation:

Main water supply schemes

Integrated Water Supply Scheme delivers 279 billion litres of water each year to over 1.5 million people in Perth, the Goldfields and Agricultural region and some parts of the southwest.[7] It is the largest scheme managed by the Corporation, and in 2011–12 water supplied into the IWSS came from the following sources:

Wastewater systems

The Water Corporation operates 109 wastewater treatment plants across Western Australia.[11] Approximately 80% of the wastewater collected and treated throughout the state occurs in the Perth metropolitan area at the corporation's three largest wastewater treatment plants at Woodman Point, Beenyup and Subiaco. Two other large capacity wastewater treatment plants are being developed to support Perth's expanding population:

The corporation uses 100% of produced biosolids in the metropolitan area for a range of purposes including agricultural and forestry.

Irrigation

The Water Corporation provides more than 240 gigalitres per year of bulk water supplies to irrigation schemes operated by farmer cooperatives in the northwest (Ord Irrigation District), midwest (Gascoyne Irrigation District) and southwest (South West and Preston Valley Irrigation Districts).

Drainage

The Water Corporation manages main drainage systems in Perth and some regional areas to prevent flooding and optimise land usage while minimising impacts on property and protecting the natural environment. These services involve about 2,250 kilometres of rural main drains and more than 900 kilometres of drains in the Perth metropolitan area. Local councils manage most of Perth's smaller reticulation drains. Corporation drainage services benefit 320,000 hectares of agricultural land in parts of the South West and Albany on the south coast.

Planning for the future

To ensure water services for a state that is growing rapidly yet at the same time suffering reduced rainfall, the Water Corporation plans well ahead on multiple fronts. It aims to reduce water use and increase wastewater recycling while developing new water sources with a strong focus on those that are independent of climate. At the same time, it aims to reduce environmental impact from its operations.

In October 2009, the corporation released its 50-year plan,[12] Water Forever: Towards Climate Resilience, which provides a portfolio of options to manage demand and supply balance by 2060 through:

References

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