WATER source projects planned for the next four years will give Perth a level of water security unseen for the past 25 years says Water Resources Minister Kim Hames.
Dr Hames recently opened the Neerabup ground water treatment plant, the first stage of a $78 million Water Corporation project to open further groundwater reserves north of Perth.
The Neerabup plant is the first groundwater treatment plant established for more than 20 years. The second and third stages of the new plant will be completed near the end of 2001.
This project, combined with another scheme near Ellenbrook, will give Perth a 15 per cent increase in its water supply in the next three years.
But Dr Hames still advocates permanent day-time sprinkler bans.
“The Water Corporation is not drought-proofing Perth, because future water restrictions can never be ruled out,” he said. “We must not lose sight of the fact we live in a dry climate where supply will always be an issue.”
Dr Hames said nature had not been kind to Perth in regards to water.
“The past 25 years have been the driest on record in Perth with both rainfall and the run-off into our dams dwindling,” he said.
