Importance of Regulatory Frameworks

Regulatory frameworks and wastewater engineering both go hand in hand. In our context regulatory frameworks refer to sets of policies that set up by the Australian government whereby the local government must comply with in the wastewater management. The Australian government is involved in the national legislation, strategies and policy frameworks for waste. The local government on the other hand are responsible for the provision of household waste collection, recycling, managing landfill sites and maintaining the wastewater infrastructure. The government policies can be briefly summarised as ”less waste, more resources”. The Australian government has had a long history of collaboration  on waste policies and actions.

When reading the environmental protection act, rights in water and irrigation act & metropolitan water supply, sewerage and drainage act pretty much deals with how wastewater should be taken care of, monitored and penalties for not following the guidelines. No matter how detailed the framework of policies and regulations, the real issue we deal with is policing the laws that are set and dealing with loopholes in the regulations which allow large businesses, industries and corporations to exploit them. There is no point in having countless list of policies regarding wastewater if rules are not applied and punished accordingly or perhaps it may be a combined effect of poor policing and weak policies that can to lead to such disasters.

There are many environmental mess-ups which are have little mention in the media and on top of that the government tries to keep the story on a low profile. A perfect example of this is the swan river in the state of WA. I remember as early as 2003 when I first arrived to Australia the swan river struck a permanent image in my mind as a sparking blue clean river with even dolphins swimming in the river. Now in 2018 when I see this river, it looks so sick and dirty. Major renovations and construction of Elizabeth Quay is nothing more than a mere distraction to a gruesome situation which the government has made little mention of. Experts mention that the swan river and its marine life is choking. It is so bad that it has reached to the point that artificial oxygen is being pumped into the river to prevent it the ”ecological equivalent of a cardiac arrest”. When researching more upon this issue you will find that the root problem is due to high volumes of pollution entering the river. Thousands of tonnes of rich fertilisers that run-off from farms in the Swan and Avon River catchments are the main cause of this disaster. These nutrients once they dissolved in the river, it feeds algal blooms which takes oxygen away from the marine life killing fishes and shockingly forms a toxic sludge behind. I personally witnessed the sludge on a rainy day near Henry Reveley bar in Elizabeth Quay. During and after the rain the water was brown in colour with bits and pieces of sludge across the river.

I sincerely recommend readers to read these links to fully grasp the seriousness of the situation. https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/experts-say-perths-swan-river-and-its-marine-life-are-choking-to-death-ng-e454f6cd0118b17a2f9c3e6e0bcc27c2 & https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-swan-river-a-river-on-life-support-20131004-2uyry.html

The Barnett Government is responsible for this disaster and the WA environment minister abolished the swan river trust which is a body responsible for the monitoring and reporting the health condition of this river. The local government is trying their very best to hide themselves from public scrutiny and their majorly failed environmental policies. Restoration of the river itself will cost billions of dollar since the swan river is not far away from being considered a wastewater river if this keeps up. The swan river not only highlights failed regulatory and policy framework but also a poor social framework as well. The only reason I noticed of this problem is because I live close to the swan river and seeing this river dying really affects me and many others in the region that live near or those that pass by that river.

Should a trust of bodies come together to tackle this situation, we can expect better wastewater engineering practices specially in the technological advancement and improved methods to help reverse this snowball of disasters. We require stricter policies because stricter policies forces improved wastewater engineering to adapt to tougher regulations and stricter policies. Also new laws need to put in place to educate the population and raise awareness of the environment we live in. It is such a crucial aspect of this framework because public awareness of government disasters keeps politicians in check so that they do not destroy precious marine life out of their recklessness and avoidable mistakes.