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PDF file

• Western Australia NAP bilateral agreement (PDF - 182 KB)

1. Preamble/Recitals

1. This Agreement covers the implementation of the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality ("the NAP"), established under the Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality ("the IGA"). The Parties are committed to implementing the NAP and the IGA. Hereafter, wherever the NAP is referred to it shall include the IGA.
2. The Parties acknowledge the different roles and responsibilities of the Commonwealth and the State for natural resource management that arise from the Commonwealth Constitution and the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment, and acknowledge that the principal responsibilities lie with the State. Further, the Parties consider that decision-making in relation to natural resource management should remain the primary responsibility of elected governments.
3. The Parties affirm that this Agreement is a joint investment in natural resource management and will function within the institutional and statutory frameworks that operate in Western Australia. The Parties acknowledge that the State has an effective framework of legislation, regulations and policy that provide for national requirements and is an appropriate foundation for the Agreement, but acknowledge that some parts of the legislation, regulations and policy may require amendment during the life of this Agreement.
4. The Parties recognise that while this Agreement is between the Commonwealth and the State of Western Australia, implementation of the NAP will involve significant investment from a range of other stakeholders. The Parties recognise the active involvement of Local Government and regional communities as fundamental to the effective implementation of the NAP.
5. Rising salinity levels and declining water quality pose a significant challenge to the people of Western Australia. They affect areas of agricultural production, associated terrestrial, freshwater, marine and subterranean ecosystems and important infrastructure. Other environmental values of land and water resources, such as recreation and aesthetics, industrial and drinking water are also impacted by salinity and declining water quality. Rising salinity and declining water quality affects both urban and rural landscapes and communities, including areas required to be protected under international agreements.
6. As signatories to the IGA, the Parties have committed to an action plan agreed by the Council of Australian Governments ('CoAG') on 3 November 2000 to establish the arrangements necessary to motivate and enable regional communities to use coordinated and targeted action to:
   1. prevent, stabilise and reverse trends in salinity, particularly dryland salinity, affecting the sustainability of production, conservation of biological diversity and the viability of our infrastructure; and
   2. improve water quality and secure reliable allocations for human uses, industry and the environment.
7. The Parties recognise that delivery of the NAP will be undertaken at a range of levels, including national-state programs and regional programs. A range of service delivery models will be used.
8. The Parties note that the State released a State Salinity Action Plan in November 1996, which was supplemented by the State Salinity Strategy, released in April 2000 and the State Government's Response to the Salinity Taskforce Report (2002), in order to address salinity management in Western Australia. The Strategy recognises that the processes that drive salinity are long term and difficult to reverse. However, in the long term it aims at recovery in priority areas. In the short term, the strategy is to slow down the rate of increase in salinity and its effects on biodiversity, water resources, rural infrastructure and agricultural production at a regional scale.
9. The purpose of this Agreement is to detail commitments by the Commonwealth and Western Australia, beyond those already agreed in the IGA, to implement the NAP, including commitments to:
   1. clearly articulate roles for the Commonwealth, Western Australian Government, Regional NRM Groups and local governments and also for industry, business and the community to provide an effective, integrated and coherent framework to deliver and monitor implementation of the NAP;
   2. arrangements for priority regions, including priority investment region boundaries, institutional arrangements and Transitional arrangements;
   3. multilateral arrangements where regions or activities are multi-jurisdictional;
   4. criteria that will be the basis for accreditation by the Parties of draft NRM strategies and the process for accrediting draft NRM strategies within a jurisdiction;
   5. a framework for the development of Partnership Agreements with regional NRM bodies;
   6. appropriate standards and targets to be reflected in accredited natural resource management plans;
   7. agreed land and water policy reforms, with milestones, to create an improved governance framework and secure government investments and community action in the long term;
   8. capacity-building activities to assist communities and landholders to develop and implement NRM Strategies, including through participating in national programs and state-specific activities;
   9. principles and arrangements for the provision of funding to regions for the implementation of accredited regional plans, including arrangements for the provision of foundation funding to regional NRM bodies to assist them to develop and refine plans;
   10. arrangements for early consideration and implementation of agreed priority projects;
   11. NAP communication activities, where agreed;
   12. principles for the development and exchange of information by the Parties; and
   13. accountability mechanisms, program management and dispute resolution arrangements for the Parties.
10. Investment priorities under this Agreement will be for activities that address and prevent salinity and improve water quality in the identified priority investment regions expressed in accredited NRM strategies.