IMPROVED water availability has allowed Western Australia's two remaining water deficiency declarations to be revoked in the Esperance shire.
Recent rainfall across WA's south has provided relief to many farmers and from last week the declarations for areas of Grass Patch and Salmon Gums were revoked with water carting for emergency livestock purposes no longer required.
The south-eastern agricultural region has experienced reduced rainfalls and dry conditions for multiple years, with water deficiency declarations in place for Grass Patch since December 19, 2019 and for Salmon Gums since March 6, 2020.
Water deficiency declarations are made by the State government to provide emergency water to farmers for livestock welfare during very dry periods.
The State government has spent more than $3.7 million on direct water carting to central locations to support emergency livestock needs.
A further $2.2m has been spent on developing and upgrading strategic community water supplies and government-owned water sources since June 2018, and another $1.5m partnering with local government to upgrade and develop local community water supplies.
In February this year, the State government also announced a $7.3m program to upgrade and refurbish 70 community dams in order to provide vital, non-potable water supplies to farmers during dry years.
The State government has already committed $3.65m towards the program and is calling on the Federal government to match this funding through its National Water Grid Authority.
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation will continue to liaise with local farmers and shires and monitor the situation across WA's dryland agricultural areas.
