A recent assessment of national water reform by the Australian Government has found Western Australia is leading the way in regards to modelling how vital underground aquifers work.
The National Water Commission Biennial Assessment praised the Department of Water's work in furthering its scientific understanding of how groundwater resources interact with each other - singling it out as being a leader in the field of modelling this interaction.
Director Water Resource Management John Ruprecht said the work undertaken in Western Australia was very important to not only furthering the science in this field, but most importantly, ensuring the state's water resources could be allocated and managed properly.
"The federal government has listed improved interaction of connectivity between surface and groundwater as a priority area that is significantly lacking in Australia," Mr Ruprecht said.
"In a national sense, the lack of information has been impeding proper water resource management planning.
"There's no doubt our work in this area ranks with the best and that is a credit to our hard working groundwater professionals.
"The department has worked hard to make sure our groundwater resources are secure through ongoing investigation, assessment and review. This has assisted in developing understanding of how they interact with each other and water dependant ecosystems.
Mr Ruprecht said this work conducted over thirty years by the state's hydrogeologists had led to the achievements in this field.
"As the National Water Commission report acknowledges, some of our conditions in Western Australia are very unique," Mr Ruprecht said.
"The system of aquifers throughout the state are geographically complex and to understand the impact of demand and climate change on the levels of aquifers, requires scientific research.
The National Water Commission report praised Western Australia for its work in a geologically complex scenario.
"Western Australia has developed a number of large groundwater models and some of its research in this area is world leading," the report concludes.
Media contact: Peter Collins (08) 6364 6848 / 0434 603 441