All living plants and animals require water to survive. Since the mid 1970’s the south western region of Western Australia has suffered a decline in rainfall (Department of Water). This has been most prominent in the late autumn and winter months and has resulted in a 50% reduction in stream flow. Stream water flow provides our dams with the water we drink and in some cases, such as in the Perth Hills, it also provides water for use on our gardens, as bore water is not available.
Regardless of whether you use scheme, ground water or a combination of both, it is everyone’s responsibility to be waterwise, as the reduction of rainfall effects the entire water cycle and water availability.
View the Water Sources for Perth- an interactive presentation provided by the Water Corporation
Not sure what to plant? Why not be waterwise and grow native plants in the garden. Find out more our plant recommendations here
There are many things that can be done around the home to reduce the amount of water your household uses. These range from low cost actions such as fixing leaking taps, installing a water efficient showerhead, or simply using a bucket to catch the rinsing water from your washing machine to water our garden.
The links below provide more information about what you can do to save water in your home and improve the water quality of waterways in your area.
These Living Smart Resources on the Department of Transport Active Transport website contain lots of useful advice on how to make your house and garden more waterwise.
Check out the Water Corporation Website - Find out when your Water Days are and view other tips on saving water in your garden and household
Household water that comes out of the washing machine/laundry, shower and washbasins may be reused on your garden. This greywater is now recognised as a valuable resource, allowing you to keep your garden green without using up our precious drinking water. Water from the toilet or swimming pool, however is not suitable for reuse, without more involved levels of treatment.
The City of Kalamunda’s Environmental Health services’ guidelines for greywater reuse may be found here.
The Water Corporation’s Showerhead Swap program allows residents of the Perth metropolitan area to exchange up to two old water guzzling showerheads for highly efficient replacements at no cost. Visit their website to find out more about their waterwise offers.
Join a volunteer Friends group to protect a local reserve along a waterway. Planting native species along waterways helps control erosion, protect water quality, maintain or improve biodiversity and provide habitat for native animals and birds.
See Water Quality Monitoring and Catchments section – these maps can help you find which waterway are close to your home.
Every year the City provides free plants to its residents on a giveaway day that happens in June or July. The aim of the program is to promote the re-vegetation of residential and rural properties with local native trees, shrubs and ground-covers. View more information here.
The Water Corporation and Department of Water, with support from ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI - International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives), launched the Waterwise Council program in 2009. The aim of the program is to build a cooperative working relationship with local governments to improve their water use efficiency as well as that of the community. The City of Kalamunda was endorsed as a Waterwise Council in April 2010, and has continued to be re-endorsed every year.
The annual re-endorsement process requires participating councils to demonstrate that they are continuing to improve the water efficiency of their operations. The City of Kalamunda has demonstrated its progress through by completing actions from its Water Action Plan, progressing through the ICLEI Water CampaignTM milestones and by relevant officers undertaking training in Waterwise Gardening and Irrigation and Water Efficiency Auditing.
Produced as part of Milestone 3 of the ICLEI Water Campaign, the Water Action Plan (2009) outlines the City’s position regarding water management; sets goals for improvement of water quality and reducing water consumption in both the corporate and community sectors; and lists actions to be implemented to achieve these goals.
Download the Water Action Plan (Sept 2009) For more information on the Water Campaign, see the Oceania section of the ICLEI website.
The City resides in the upper catchments of the many waterways which feed into the Canning and lower Swan River systems.To obtain a ‘snapshot’ of the health of its waterways, and to be aware of the quality of water leaving the City and entering other local government areas, the City collects and analyses water from nine (9) sampling sites at regular times each year. The Department of Water's monitor and collect data for Western Australia water resources. To find out how they use the data to assist making decisions and planning for safe and sustainable water supplies include their Water Information Reporting (WIR) tools, please view the website: http://www.water.wa.gov.au/maps-and-data/monitoring
Water catchment areas in the City of Kalamunda include:
Find out more about the City waterways here
The Water Campaign™ is coordinated by the ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI - International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives). It is an international freshwater management program providing a series of structured milestones for local governments to reduce their water consumption and improve water quality in their area. The milestones support waterwise behaviour in both City of Kalamunda’s own operations and in the local community. City of Kalamunda has been involved in the Water Campaign™ since August 2004 and completed Milestone 5 in October 2012.
The five milestones are as follows;
Flora & Fauna
Planting Recommendations