Environment: Content from Across the ABC


Date/Time 14 Mar 2014 10:25:36am
The WA govt dept responsible for water, openly promotes over-extraction and zero protection for most of their non reticulated potable water.
Miners are encouraged to use it quickly,over farmers using it sustainably.
The Act which fails to protect is circa 1914,and the WA govt is waiting to lock up as much allocations to industry as it can before it raises a finger to protect the water for enviro or community or sustainable farming.
You can get more water cheaper for suppressing dust and washing rock,than you can for growing food or producing milk.
All enviro laws are soft.Too many projects get approved with rigorous monitoring and yet little policing,when infringements occur, and an almost non-existent list of prosecutions.
The data is held by the dept of mines which has a vested interest in saying/doing nothing,even if something does infringe/impact.
These problems are always worse with conservative governments in power.