South West Wetlands Monitoring Program (SWWMP)

Data from the South West Wetlands Monitoring Program (SWWMP) 1977-2019 conducted by the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and its predecessors.

Included are data from 158 wetlands most of which are within conservation reserves vested in the Conservation and Parks Commission of Western Australia and managed by DBCA.  Some are on private property.

SWWMP began in 1977 with a decision in the former Department of Fisheries and Wildlife to commence a program of September and November water level monitoring on a large sample of south west wetlands in order to provide an objective basis for determining annual waterfowl hunting season specifications.  Salinity was also to be monitored because of its potential impact on waterfowl and their habitat.

82 wetlands were monitored between 1977 and 1980. In 1981 the program was expanded to coincide with a four-year assessment of waterbird use of south west Wetland Nature Reserves by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union.  The total number of wetlands monitored under SWWMP during this period was 119 and monitoring was conducted at two month intervals.  At the end of this assessment, SWWMP monitoring reverted to September and November each year and the number of wetlands being monitored was reduced to 85.

Recreational waterfowl hunting in Western Australia was banned by the State Government in 1992, SWWMP was continued due to its value for management and investigation, however the number of wetlands was reduced and the focus shifted, with more emphasis on near-coastal freshwater wetlands and less on inland saline wetlands.  By 1996 only 60 wetlands were being monitored.

In November 1996, the Salinity Action Plan was released.  One of its strategic aims was to protect and restore high value wetlands and maintain biological diversity within agricultural areas of Western Australia.  Monitoring was recognised as necessary to determine the effectiveness of the plan, which stated "CALM will monitor a sample of wetlands, and their associated flora and fauna, throughout the south west to determine long term trends in natural diversity and provide a sound basis for corrective action". 

Since 1996 SWWMP monitoring was resumed at many wetlands with approximately 100 wetlands being monitored since 2000.

In 2018 SWWMP was discontinued, with a selection of 20 wetlands were monitored during September and/or November 2018.

Data is provided for all monitored wetlands in CSV format. Also included is a Data Description, Collector Codes and Information on the wetlands.

Benchmark and gauge coordinates are provided for each wetland along with gauge establishment maintenance details in PDF format.

Access maps are provided in a ZIP archive of exported JPG maps.

The last SWWMP report (with data to 2016) is provided below, but there is a series of previous reports, some of which have additional information not provided in the last report.

Note: to access the data, select the data source link located on the right-hand side.

Tags: asset_water quality, asset_wetlands, monitoring
Organization: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions