Water and the West Australian Minerals and Energy Industry
The Regional Minerals Program (RMP) project study titled Water and the Western Australian Minerals and Energy Industry: Certainty of Supply for Future Growth was commissioned by the Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energyto undertake a study to describe water use in the resources sector and the role of the industry in the development of water sources and water use in Western Australia. The final RMP study report:
- described water use in the resources sector by quality, quantity, region and source
- described the industry contribution to discovery and development of water supplies
- quantified the industry contribution to water development
- described water treatment, disposal methods and environmental management
- made recommendations to ensure any water resource management framework developed through the Council of Australian Governmentsis responsive to the needs of the minerals industry.
A key finding of the study was that while mineral and petroleum mining and processing activities are major water users in Western Australia, the water statistics overemphasise the scale of such use as they do not take into account:
- the location of use
- the quality of water used
- the self-supply role of most of the industry
- the industry's efforts that goes into water management.
The study commenced in March 2004 and was completed in July 2004.
To obtain a copy of the Report, please see the downloadable file below. The Executive Summary is also available.