Developing an Integrated Management Strategy for a Peri-Urban, Public Water Supply Catchment

Abstract

This article reports on the preparation of an integrated catchment management strategy for the Middle Helena Catchment, an essentially unprotected, peri-urban, public water supply catchment east of Perth, Western Australia. The strategy was prepared drawing on individual research, work by a community catchment group and agency involvement. Methods used included interviews of catchment residents and management experts, workshops, and negotiations with relevant agencies. Outcomes so far are a catchment management strategy produced by the community group and initiation of an inter-agency plan. Problems of implementing the final strategy (when produced) include the complexity of land uses and land tenure in the catchment, the existence of a number of overlapping plans by different groups and agencies, the fact that most residents in the catchment do not derive their main income from the land, and the absence of a body with dear responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the final strategy. Broader implications include the need for adequate resourcing of catchment groups and an improvement in agency awareness of the essential nature of stakeholder involvement in the integrated catchment management (ICM) planning process. Adoption of recommendations by a Federal parliamentary committee and complementary State ICM legislation would considerably improve the current uncoordinated and unsatisfactory situation in Western Australia with regard to ICM planning and the implementation of catchment plans.