11/02/2022
In todays West Australian Sabrina Hahn sounds another warning on the proposal to slash garden bore use.....
"As policymakers look to reduce the number of bore watering days, debate heats up over what kind of city we’ll soon be living in
Most people will be aware of the proposed changes by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to reduce domestic bore watering days from three days a week to two days.
This does not just affect the affluent suburbs; it’s all the older suburbs that have 600-900 sqm blocks that people bought to have a garden for wildlife and room for kids to play in. Gardens are disappearing at an alarming rate, and urban infill and a lack of space to plant trees in new subdivisions will contribute to the urban heat island effect.
The three most important factors overlooked in the current debate about ways to preserve what we have left of our groundwater systems and wetlands are this: 1. Lack of implementation of direct reuse of potable advanced water recycling plants to replace groundwater extraction volumes. Both DWER and the Water Corp have failed to deliver and meet the reinjection targets of phase 2 of the advanced water recycle facility system. Direct reuse is used by many countries with less rainfall than Perth and has been successful in meeting growing population demands.
2. There are massive gaps in research, policy and guidelines for developers and governments who build on and around Perth’s wetlands. We need a comprehensive wetlands policy to protect wetlands from development. The current 1997 Wetlands Conservation Policy is out of date and redundant.
3. Urban infill is responsible for an overwhelming loss of tree canopy, many of them more than 60 years old, and lack of planned green spaces. Cities need to go upwards to prevent the unsustainable urban sprawl, but there must be a balance with green spaces that provide a cooling environment, habitat for species other than humans and provide a space for people’s mental wellbeing. Within 10 years, two-thirds of gardens in areas targeted for urban infill will simply disappear under cement.
We all need to work together to reduce the effects of the current groundwater abstraction that is causing significant stresses on the environment; however, our gardens are the only refuge for cooling the city, providing vitally important habitat for birds, bats, insects, mammals, frogs and lizards. Perth is rapidly becoming an ecological desert; urban infill is moving through our suburbs like a concrete cancer, denuding flora and fauna as it moves though. Once all the gardens and trees have been destroyed and covered in roads and buildings, Perth will become a heat trap and one of the most unliveable cities in the world.
If you would like to make your views on the proposed changes known, send in a submission to
wa.gov.au/rebalancingourgroundwater "
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