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❓ The WA Government admits it hasn't estimated the sustainable yield of aquifers in Pickering Brook, citing uncertainty due to the fractured rock nature of the aquifers, and hasn't conducted groundwater modelling for the area.

AnsweredQoN 858Legislative Council

Asked

11 November 2025

Member

Hon Anthony Spagnolo

Portfolio

Aboriginal Affairs; Water; Climate Resilience; South West

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the sustainability of local groundwater resources in the Darling Scarp, and I ask: (a) what is the estimated sustainable yield of the aquifer systems in the Pickering Brook area; (b) has this estimate changed in the past decade due to declining rainfall or increased abstraction; and (c) what modelling has been conducted on long-term aquifer depletion risk in the region?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

11 December 2025

Responded by

Leader of the House representing the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs; Water; Climate Resilience; South West

Response time

8 days

(a) – (b) An estimate of sustainable yield from aquifer systems in the Pickering Brook area has not been made. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation advises that there is considerable uncertainty associated with estimating sustainable yield from fractured rock aquifers such as the aquifer systems in the Pickering Brook area.
(c) No groundwater modelling has been undertaken for the Pickering Brook area due to the fractured rock nature of the aquifer systems.

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