Water

The environmental assets for the water theme include rivers, wetlands and estuaries along with surface and ground water resources. Key activities in the year under review include:

Water Asset Monitoring, Planning and Implementation

Many water programs and projects have been conducted in the past with multiple stakeholders and partnerships around the areas of monitoring and resource assessment and the development and implementation of management plans and actions for the protection of priority water assets.

Key activities in the year under review include the continued implementation of existing plans and on-ground works by community groups, landholders and partners addressing NRM issues in areas such as Wilson Inlet, Torbay, Wellstead, Culham and Stokes inlets, along with the Lake Gore and Lake Warden Ramsar Wetlands in the eastern part of the region.

To address the threats posed by invasive plant and animal species to the ecological character of Ramsar-listed wetlands weed and invasive species control has been completed at the Lake Muir, Lake Warden and Lake Gore Ramsar wetlands. On ground rehabilitation works such as revegetation and fencing and the planting of perennials have also been undertaken to protect the Lake Warden and Lake Gore Ramsar wetlands.   

In the last year project officers and other interested individuals from across the region have continued to use the uniDap WaterQ Solution, an online database to assist community groups and NRM stakeholders in the management of water related data.

Activities such as the partnership with Albany Heritage Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation at Lake Pleasant View, the partnership with the Esperance Nyungar Aboriginal Corporation to monitor waterholes and key reserves, the Denmark River project including the Kwoorabup Walk Trail and the Culham Inlet Traditional Owner Workshop has helped to engage the Indigenous community in protecting and managing water assets.