T&C Do and Son Pty Ltd manages a horticultural enterprise cultivating vegetables on four farms situated in Caraban as well as Woodridge. It is the state’s third-largest vegetable producer, and sells its products to supermarkets of all sizes.

In the month of September, 2021, officials of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation were on four properties to take routine readings of water meters from bores which are used to take drinking water out of Gingin Groundwater Area. Gingin Groundwater Area. On one of the properties, officers noticed that water was taken from the bore, and that the crops were being irrigated. Officers discovered that although that the bore was in operation however, the water meter was unable to register the fact that water was taken. Additionally, it was discovered that the meter hadn’t registered any water having been taken since its previous reading nearly four weeks earlier.

The 1st of September, 2023 was the day that in the Joondalup Magistrates Court The company as well as two directorships Phung Tran Do (73 years old, of Carabooda) as well as Tuyet Chau Huynh (43 years old, of Carabooda) admitted to four charges relating to excess use of water in accordance with the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act. It was found that the water licence had been overused by 12% in a time period of 12 months. That equates as a total that was approximately 170,529 Kilolitres. which is equivalent to the equivalent of 68 Olympic pool swimming facilities.

The firm was slapped with a fine of the sum of $6,000. For directors two The directors were fined $2000 each was assessed as the principal penalty, and another $22,000 for a daily fine. Total fines was set at $54,000 and court expenses which totalled $1,239.90.

DWER Director for Regional Delivery, Simon Taylor Simon Taylor said that the sentence is the message to users of water that water is a limited resource and that the department is taking the necessary measures to safeguard the precious water resources of our region.

“Western Australia’s dry climate makes groundwater precious and becoming scarcer,” the expert said.

“Strict control of who is allowed to be able to take groundwater, and how much they can take is essential in light of the falling levels of groundwater that threaten the long-term viability of our state’s habitats as well as ecosystems.”

For further information, click here.

Department of Water and Environmental Regulation

Tel. : +61 0437 228 870

Email:media@dwer.wa.gov.au