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Western Australia's Water Minister Simone McGurk says decades-old arrangements allowing millions of litres of groundwater to be extracted for sale as bottled water free of charge should be reviewed as the state faces a drying climate.
The minister's comments came after Perth Hills residents spoke out about their concerns that water was being extracted from a local bore on a private property by Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) without any apparent oversight.
The City of Armadale has clarified that it first granted approval for the cartage of spring water from the private property in Karragullen in 1992.
At that time the council approved two to three truckloads a week, and in 1996 the amount was increased to 10-15 loads a week, when then-minister for lands Graham Kierath overruled council objections and granted permission to the company.
City of Armadale chief executive Joanne Abbiss said that in 1996, the minister approved the cartage of an average of 10 truckloads — each containing 28,000 litres — per week, with a maximum of 15 loads per week.
"As is common with development approvals [that] there is no end date on the approval," Ms Abbiss said.
Neighbouring residents at Karragullen told ABC Radio Perth's Nadia Mitsopoulos they were concerned that no-one actually monitored how many trucks were leaving the property loaded with water.
The WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) confirmed that CCEP was not required to pay for the water as the bore was located in an "unproclaimed groundwater area" and license fees did not apply.
'Doesn't pass the pub test'
Ms McGurk said she understood community concern about the issue.
"When it's happening at a commercial and an industrial scale, and then of course [they are] selling [the water] back to people for a profit, I think it just doesn't pass the pub test," she said.
"And I think that's also been highlighted by the summer that we've just had.
"The pattern is here to stay, I think, that we will have hot, dry summers, so that's made the news of this even more frustrating for people."
Ms McGurk acknowledged that many private homes — and industrial sectors around the state including agriculture and mining — accessed unmetered bore water.
"As long as people register their bores, they can access groundwater and don't have to pay for it," she said.
However, she said arrangements like the one made by CCEP 30 years ago should be reviewed.
"In the first instance, we will be talking to Coca-Cola to say to them, 'Look, the last time you made an application for this was about 30 years ago. We think it's time to revisit this'," she said.
"I've asked for advice from the department about the sort of issues that we can raise in the short term and also the medium and long term.
"A lot has changed in the last 30 years."
Checking sustainability levels
One of the frustrations residents raised about the Karragullen bore extraction was the lack of transparency around how much the company was allowed to take, and who was checking the limit was adhered to.
"That's a really important point … making sure that we've got a good idea about what they're taking, and also whether it's sustainable in the current climate," Ms McGurk said.
"We know that things are changing very rapidly with our climate and our water sources, and we really need to keep a close eye on them."
Ms McGurk said she would also ask her department for information about other bores owned or leased by bottled water manufacturers.
However, she defended the government's decision to abandon planned updates to the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act, which dates back to 1914, saying there had been frustration with the legislation's complexity.
"My priority is understanding what's happening with our water sources and how we can better manage agriculture, horticulture … industry and the environment," she said.
"There are all sorts of things that we can balance, and we can do that within the current legislation."
WA Greens upper house MP Brad Pettitt said a review of the legislation regulating groundwater extraction was overdue.
"I can understand the community's outrage that a multinational corporate behemoth like Coca-Cola Europacific is pumping water out of a residential bore for free and trucking it away for commercial use," he said.
"Whilst it might be legal, it is deeply unethical at a time when south-western Australia is drying out and dying off at one of the fastest rates in the world.
"It is clear the century-old Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 desperately needs updating as it is no longer fit for purpose."
The Australian Beverages Council, which represents bottled water suppliers including CCEP, said it had a code of practice for bottlers designed to ensure water sources were used sustainably.
"Through our Australasian Bottled Water Institute (ABWI) code of practice — the ABWI Model Code — water bottlers are held to account via compliance with an independently audited set of stringent provisions on quality, safety and sustainability," the council said.
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