Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) In this Act,
unless the contrary intention appears —
artesian well means a well, including all
associated works, from which water flows, or has flowed, naturally to the
surface;
bed , with reference to any watercourse or
wetland, means the land over which normally flows, or which is normally
covered by, the water thereof, whether permanently or intermittently, but does
not include land from time to time temporarily covered by the flood waters of
such watercourse or wetland and abutting on or adjacent to such bed;
CEO means the chief executive officer of the
Department;
Corporation means the Water Corporation
established by section 4 of the Water Corporation Act 1995 ;
Crown land means land vested in Her Majesty which
is not for the time being dedicated to any public purpose, or subject to any
grant, lease, licence, contract, or engagement made by or on behalf of Her
Majesty;
degradation , in respect of water, includes the
sensible diminishing of the quality or quantity of that water;
Department means the department of the Public
Service principally assisting in the administration of this Act;
district means an Irrigation District or
“irrigation district” constituted under this Act;
former Authority means the Water Authority of
Western Australia under the Water Authority Act 1984 2 before the
commencement of Part 2 of the Water Agencies Restructure (Transitional
and Consequential Provisions) Act 1995 3 ;
former Minister means a Minister administering
this Act before, pursuant to the Water Authority Act 1984 2 , the former
Authority became charged with the administration of functions under this Act,
whether in his capacity as a Minister of the Crown or as (pursuant to
section 2 of the Water Supply, Sewerage, and Drainage Act 1912
4 as read with this Act) a body corporate;
irrigation charge , in relation to land, means a
water charge in respect of that land relating to the provision of irrigation
under this Act;
local by-laws means local by-laws made under
section 26L;
non-artesian well means a well, including all
associated works, from which water does not flow, and has not flowed,
naturally to the surface, but has to be raised, or has been raised, by pumping
or other artificial means;
officer , in relation to the Corporation, means a
member of the staff of the Corporation engaged under section 15 of the
Water Corporation Act 1995 ;
prescribed means prescribed under the
Water Agencies (Powers) Act 1984 for the purposes of this Act or that
Act, as the case requires;
spring means a spring of water naturally rising to
and flowing over the surface of land, but does not include the discharge of
underground water directly into a watercourse, wetland, reservoir or other
body of water;
take , in relation to water, means to remove water
from, or reduce the flow of water in, a watercourse, wetland or underground
water source, including by —
(a)
pumping or siphoning water;
(b)
stopping, impeding or diverting the flow of water;
(c)
releasing water from a wetland;
(d)
permitting water to flow under natural pressure from a well; or
(e)
permitting stock to drink from a watercourse or wetland,
and includes storing water during, or ancillary
to, any of those processes or activities;
the regulations means regulations made as
mentioned in section 27;
underground water or underground water source
includes water that percolates from the ground into a well or other works;
water charge , in relation to land, means a charge
made under the Water Agencies (Powers) Act 1984 in respect of that land
relating to a water service provided under this Act;
watercourse has the meaning given by
section 3;
water resources includes —
(a)
watercourses and wetlands together with their beds and banks;
(b)
other surface waters; and
(c)
aquifers and underground water;
Water Resources Council means the Water Resources
Council established by section 16 of the Water Agencies (Powers)
Act 1984 ;
well means an opening in the ground made or used
to obtain access to underground water;
wetland means a natural collection of water,
whether permanent or temporary, on the surface of any land and
includes —
(a) any
lake, lagoon, swamp or marsh; and
(b) a
natural collection of water that has been artificially altered,
but does not include a watercourse.
(2) Terms not
otherwise assigned a meaning under subsection (1) but referred to in
section 3 of the Water Agencies (Powers) Act 1984 as having a
meaning assigned for the purposes of a relevant Act have that meaning in and
for the purposes of this Act.
[Section 2 inserted by No. 119 of 1984
s. 3; amended by No. 25 of 1985 s. 275; No. 24 of 1987
s. 140; No. 73 of 1995 s. 113 and 140; No. 49 of 2000 s. 5
and 15; No. 38 of 2007 s. 52.]