A New Water Ethic for WA
A new water ethic is about respecting and conserving our precious water.
Bill for efficient scheme water use
Paul Llewellyn's 2008 Water Conservation Target Bill set water use targets for the Water Corporation and other providers to make them promote water conservation. The Bill was first introduced in 2007 and has been re-introduced into the 38th Parliament.
Being smarter and more efficient with our water use allows us to avoid the damaging alternatives:
- Groundwater is not the solution. The Gnangara Mound is over-extracted, and tapping the South West Yarragadee carries unacceptable environmental risks.
- Desalination is not the solution. It is very energy intensive, taking 4.5 kWh of electricity to produce 1,000 litres of water. If all the water you showered with was desalinated, the electricity to produce it would be enough to power around 60 old light bulbs while you shower!
Since the 1970s, climate change has caused a drop in rainfall in the south west. There has been a 60% decrease in flows into storage dams from some streams. Western Australia’s population continues to grow. We need a new water ethic.
Water Motion • Bill • Brochures (Short - pdf 757 KB), (Long - pdf 846 KB)
Other water use
We also need to be more efficient in how we use water in other areas - including household garden bores, agriculture, mining and industry.
Paul has put pressure on the Government to introduce effective measures in this area.
Rally to save the Yarragadee a success
On 27 March 2007 over 1000 people marched on Parliament House and called on the Western Australian Government to abandon plans to tap 45GL of water from the South West Yarragadee Aquifer. Paul presented 1800 signed postcards supporting the protest to the Premier and the Minister for Water Resources. His Parliamentary motion was successful. Read the motion and speech.