Biodiversity
The Water Corporation manages about one million hectares of land in the State. About half of this is in the South West ecoregion, recognised as one of only 34 biodiversity hot-spots in the world, and the only one in Australia.
Biodiversity is the abundance and diversity of living things and the ecosystems they belong to, on land and in water. Biodiversity is crucial to healthy ecosystem function, which helps to maintain water quality. The State’s biodiversity is under threat from climate change, land clearing, introduced pests and diseases, salinity and fire.
Most catchment areas, water reserves, wastewater treatment plants and land reserved for future water or wastewater infrastructure have large tracts of native vegetation and sometimes water bodies such as wetlands. They contribute to the retention of biodiversity. Water Corporation owned land can also provide important ecological linkages between parcels of bushland to facilitate movement of flora and fauna.
The Water Corporation’s activities can also affect biodiversity, through the management of land, infrastructure development, drainage and discharge of water and wastewater to the environment.
We try to continually improve and manage the land under our care and where practical, restore or improve biodiversity. This includes minimising land clearing and severing of ecological linkages, managing pests and diseases, minimising impacts of operations on biodiversity and working with universities and research institutions to learn more about our environment.
Biodiversity is a key issue considered in the development of future water sources and the delivery of wastewater and drainage services.
