• Skip to content
  • Skip to navigation
  • About us
  • Make a payment
  • Accessibility
  • News
  • Publications
  • Contact Us
Government of Western Australia Department of Water and Environmental Regulation
Go to Minister for Water
Go to whole of WA Government search
Home Show Sub Nav
Planning for the future Show Sub Nav
Finding water Finding Water

Finding new water resources, including Royalties for Regions-funded programs and other drilling programs to explore resources across the state.

Water allocation plans Photo from consultation for the Gingin groundwater allocation plan

Information about allocation plans, which set out how much water can be reliably taken from groundwater and surface water sources for productive purposes while ensuring the sustainability of the resource and protection of the water-dependent environment.

Meeting demand 1.3.1 Crop irrigation

Information about ensuring sustainable water supplies for the state’s population and industries, including the Water for Growth and Water for Food programs.

Rural water support Rural Assistance

Click here to apply for rebates and grants for farmers, pastoralists and rural communities to improve local water supplies and for information about assistance to help farmers access water during dry seasons.

Flood planning and mapping Meeting demand

Information, advice and management of flood plans based on flood behaviour research and floodplain mapping for the state's major rivers.

Water and land use planning Narrows Bridge

Integrated water and land use planning based on the principles of total water cycle management.

Innovation

The Department of Water invites you to share your ideas on creating innovative solutions to water challenges.

Licensing Show Sub Nav
Water licensing Water Licensing

Licences and how to apply, licensing policies, forms to download and answers to questions frequently asked by current and prospective licensees.

Water trading Water Trading

Find out who is eligible to trade water entitlements and how applications are assessed. Click here to identify potential trading partners from the Water Register.

Metering and measurement

Metering and measuring the water you take helps you understand your water usage to make the most of your entitlements and reduce your overall costs.

Water licensing fees

New fees for water licence and permit applications are being introduced to the mining and public water supply sectors from the 13 November 2018, post

Legislation Show Sub Nav
Current legislation Current Legislation

Current legislation for which the Department of Water assists the Minister for Water. Click here for current WA legislation.

Water reform

We are updating our policy and legislation to deliver water resource management legislation that is flexible, progressive and capable of managing water today and in the future.

Urban water Show Sub Nav
Water services Water Services

Legislation and policy for Western Australia’s water service providers.

Urban development Urban Development

Planning and managing water to enable growing, liveable water smart towns and cities.

Recycling and efficiency Recycling

Information about wastewater recycling, water efficiencies and the use of fit-for-purpose water. Recycling is encouraged whenever it is socially, economically and environmentally acceptable to make smart use of waste water for the ongoing development of the State.

Bores Domestic Garden Watering

For information on groundwater, garden bores and waterwise gardens please visit our Be Groundwater Wise website. You can find questions and answers about garden bores,

Drinking water Mundaring Weir

Protecting and managing public drinking water source areas including policies relating to public drinking water source areas, water source protection plans, water quality strategies and management and review processes.

Water topics Show Sub Nav
Groundwater Ground Water

Information on the state’s groundwater resources, locations, investigations, aquifer recharge and sustainable management of water resources, including an overview of state groundwater investigations.

Surface water Surface Water

Surface water, like rivers and streams used for public water supply, self-supply, irrigation, recreation and hydropower and rainfall and streamflow monitoring, catchment modelling and flood studies to manage surface water.

Water quality Water Quality

Click here for information about water quality, including public drinking water source areas, salinity, brochures, fact sheets and best management practices for various land uses and activities to help protect water quality and public health.

Waterways Rivers and Estuaries

Rivers and estuaries and their importance including information on monitoring and assessing waterways, protecting, understanding, planning, restoring, and risks and threats.

Estuaries

There are 166 estuaries in Western Australia as established through the National Land and Water Resources Audit (NLWRA) 2000, where an estuary is defined as

Irrigation Irrigation

Click here for information on types of irrigators, licenses and the role of irrigation as an economic enabler for industry.

Onshore petroleum and water resources 5.6 Shale_and_tight_gas.jpg

Information on the department’s role in relation to the shale and tight gas industry.

Maps & data Show Sub Nav
Maps Maps

A detailed collection of online atlases and maps with information on the State’s water resources, including depth to groundwater, garden bore suitability, geology and proclaimed management areas.

Monitoring and data Data logger hut

Information and reports collected from the department's extensive State-wide monitoring network, which are provided free for water management, state development and research purposes.

Main
  • Home
  • Water topics
  • Waterways
  • Managing our waterways
  • Low dissolved oxygen and oxygenation
  • Groundwater
  • Surface water
  • Water quality
  • Waterways
    • What are waterways, rivers, estuaries and wetlands?
    • Values of our waterways
    • Threats to our waterways
    • Assessing waterway health
    • Managing our waterways
      • Legislation, policies and guidelines for waterways
      • Considering waterways in planning and development
      • Water Quality Improvement Plans (WQIPs)
      • Waterways management, action and recovery plans
      • Modelling catchments, land use impacts, and management effectiveness
      • Low dissolved oxygen and oxygenation
      • Restoring our rivers
      • River Restoration Manual
      • Urban waterways management and living streams
      • Soil amendments
      • Water notes
      • Waterway protection and management
      • Kent Street Weir refurbishment
    • Vasse Geographe Strategy
  • Estuaries
  • Irrigation
  • Onshore petroleum and water resources
Share
  • facebook iconFacebook
  • twitter iconTwitter
  • email iconEmail

Low dissolved oxygen and oxygenation

 Low dissolved oxygen

Oxygen is required by the majority of aquatic organisms for respiration and an oxygen deficiency in water poses a threat to our aquatic ecosystems. The effect of low (>2 -4 mg/L) to hypoxic (>0 to 2.0 mg/L) dissolved oxygen concentrations upon fish and other aquatic life is highly dependent on the duration and extent of hypoxia, the sensitivity of individual species, their life stage and mobility, but it can cause acute stress and death (fish kills) or may impact on the healthy functioning of the ecosystem through various sub lethal effects.

Oxygenation

Artificial oxygenation was extensively trialled and is now an effective management tool in the Swan and Canning Rivers.  Artificial oxygenation provides a refuge and promotes the ecological health of the rivers by improving water quality in terms of increased availability of dissolved oxygen, which is essential to support fish and other aquatic life.  The maintenance of an oxygenated water column promotes healthy ecological processes that break down organic matter and recycle nutrients, which in turn enhances the public amenity of the Swan and Canning rivers by reducing unpleasant odours and occurrence of nuisance algal blooms.

Oxygenation concept diagram

Five oxygenation plants are managed and operated by Department of Water in partnership with the Swan River Trust, two on the upper Swan at Guildford and Caversham, and three on the Canning River above the Kent St weir at Bacon St, Camsell Way and Nicholson Rd.These locations experience hypoxia for an extended period of the year owing to the oxygen demand of the ecosystem exceeding the natural rate of oxygen replenishment achieved through the processes of wind mixing, diffusion and photosynthesis. Low dissolved oxygen concentrations can arise through natural phenomena that include seasonality, changes in river flow, and both saline and thermal stratification of the water column.  However, the main drivers of the elevated oxygen demand in the Swan and Canning River estuary are nutrient enrichment and organic loading that the rivers receive from the catchment.

Map of oxygenation plant locations

Oxygenating rivers and estuaries for environmental objectives is novel and highly specialised; there are no other known cases of estuarine oxygenation in Australia. The oxygenation plants utilise concepts and technology developed internationally, particularly for the treatment of stratified reservoirs.  A major design challenge for the use of artificial oxygenation in the Swan and Canning river estuary was selecting an appropriate technology for application to a shallow, warm and in the case of the Swan River, a seasonally saline water body. Side stream super-saturation (SSS) was chosen because it is not dependent upon extended contact time in-situ between oxygen bubbles and the water column.  The plants work by pumping water from the river, supersaturating it with oxygen within a land based plant, before returning the now oxygen rich water back to the river via distribution pipes. Guildford oxygenation plant dissolver

The Department of Water monitors the response of the river to the operation of the plants via real time monitoring buoy data and weekly physical profiling of the water column. Operational regimes and oxygen delivery rates  of the plants are adjusted to ensure that dissolved oxygen concentrations within the area of influence are maintained at optimal levels to support fish and other aquatic life.

The Department of Water has assessed the effectiveness of the plants via experimental studies and modelling (see Water Science Note #001). For example, in 2012 water column profiling at Caversham undertaken prior, during and post plant operation demonstrated that dissolved oxygen concentrations increased incrementally each day until the plant was turned off, from which point a rapid decline in oxygen concentrations was observed.  The impact of plant operations was larger at sites closer to the plant, for example at the Caversham (CAV) monitoring site 0.2 km upstream but sites further away, for example at Middle Swan Bridge (MSB) 3.2 km upstream, were also affected by the operation of the plant.

Effective operation of the Swan River and Canning River oxygenation plants can maintain adequate oxygen concentrations in the both the upper Swan River estuary and the Canning River upstream of the Kent St weir. Without operation of the oxygenation plants, hypoxic conditions would prevail for long periods.

Caversham oxygenation plant water column profiles before during and after operation.

 Further information: Monitoring buoys at the Guildford oxygenatino plant

  • Modelling the effectiveness of artificial oxygenation in the Swan-Canning esturary -  Water Science Notes #001 June 2015
  • Oxygenating the Swan and Canning rivers (River Science 13)
  • 1998/1999 Canning River Oxygenation trial (River Science 14)
  • Report on the 1999/2000 Swan barge oxygenation trial (River Science 15) 
  • Report on the 1999/2000 Canning River oxygenation Project (River Science 18)
  • The use of artificial oxygenation to reduce nutrient availability in the Canning River, Western Australia. Water Science and Technology, 43(9): 133-144 2001
Page last updated - 14 Apr 2015
Return to top of page
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation was established by the Government of Western Australia on 1 July 2017. It is a result of the amalgamation of the Department of Environment Regulation, Department of Water and the Office of the Environmental Protection Authority. This website/publication may contain references to previous government departments and programs. Please contact the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to clarify any specific information.

WA.gov.au
FOR MORE NEWS ON WA WATER
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR RSS
All content copyright © Government of Western Australia. All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • -->