The Vasse Zone and WAFarmers Dairy Council have this week provided submissions into the Independent Review of the Current and Future Management of Water Assets in the Geographe Catchment, WA Discussion Document. The review is being conducted by Professor Barry Hart who has been engaged by the Western Australian Department of Water to undertake the review which is required to focus on governance structures and management priorities in three areas:
- Management of the Vasse-Wonnerup Ramsar Wetlands,
- Overall water quality management in the Geographe catchment contributing to Geographe Bay,
- Water quality management of local waterways, including the Lower Vasse River, Vasse Diversion Drain and Toby Inlet.
An Issues Paper was released on 5 December 2013 following a visit by Professor Hart to the Geographe region in November 2013. The Issues Paper provided a summary of the stakeholder discussions and key issues identified by the community and key agencies and conveyed to Professor Hart. The Discussion Document contains three main sections covering:
- Water-related assets, issues they face and their current management arrangements,
- An assessment of the effectiveness of the current management against eight assessment criteria,
- Possible future management options.
