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Monitoring network reveals another year of climate change impacts on rivers

This year’s winter rainfall may have been an improvement on recent years in some areas, but the State’s south-west rivers continue to feel the brunt of climate change.

According to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, rivers in the south-west of the State had another dry year with the majority recording below average flows compared to the period of 1975-2016.

The Denmark, Frankland, Donnelly, Margaret, Capel, Collie and Harvey rivers all recorded below average flows despite generally average rainfall.

At the north of the south-west land division, Gingin Brook continued to be one of the State’s most affected areas for climate change, recording another below average year’s flow.

The Bureau of Meteorology rated the 2017 winter as the hottest on record in WA, and overall the winter rainfall average was the 11th lowest since 1900 and the driest since 2014 in the south-west land division.

Perth’s most significant water resource, the Gnangara groundwater system, ended the year with the best levels since 2009, mainly due to 2016 rainfall being well distributed across the winter months, and the unusual rainfall event in February 2017 halting the decline in levels usually experienced in late summer and autumn.

The February event, which resulted in flood warnings for the Swan-Avon catchment, also pushed the Swan River into its best flow in many years, and the event was listed by the Bureau of Meteorology as a significant weather and climate event.