Continued reductions in ground and scheme water usage have helped the City of Cockburn maintain its gold status in the Waterwise Council Program.
The program, run through a partnership between the Water Corporation and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, supports councils to improve water efficiency in their operations and communities.
According to the City’s 2016-17 Waterwise Council annual report, total community water use reduced from 12,627,945kL in 2015-16 to 11,905,012kL, with per capita water use reducing from 119.13kL to 109.45kL.
The City is also on target to reduce corporate scheme water consumption by five per cent below the 2014-15 per capita (0.7 kL per person) levels by 2020, with the 2016-17 level falling to 0.68kL/person.
Parks and Environment Manager Anton Lees said the community was on target to meet its 100kL/person residential water use goal.
“While per capita residential water use has not reduced to 100kL/person in 2016-17 there has been a marked decrease from the previous year’s 119.13kL/person,” Mr Lees said.
“This shows that good improvements have been made in decreasing community water use.”
Community sector usage for 2016-17 was 2,285,614kL, which is much closer to the 2020 target of 2,266,356kL – five per cent lower than 2014-15 levels.
“This figure must also consider the increase in population within the City, with Cockburn being one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Perth,” Mr Lees said.
Some projects and practices that helped the City continue to reduce its water usage include:
- A Native Plant Subsidy Scheme for both schools and the community
- Redevelopment of the Adventure World car park using water sensitive urban design
- Development of Waterwise Verge Best Practice Guidelines for residents
- Public Open Space hydrozoning Initiative
- Irrigation – a Central Control System Installation Program that saves water during periods of rain
The City was one of 13 metropolitan councils to achieve Gold Waterwise Recognition, announced by Water Minister Dave Kelly on 1 May.