Water for Aboriginal communities

During the reporting period, a dedicated Aboriginal Water Program was established to facilitate culturally appropriate and safe engagement. Run by Aboriginal staff located around NSW, the Aboriginal Water Program is committed to working with First Nations/Aboriginal people to:

• strengthen First Nations/Aboriginal people’s role in water planning and management
• improve ownership of and access to water
• improve shared water knowledge
• maintain and preserve water-related cultural sites and landscapes.

Together with Aboriginal stakeholders, an Aboriginal Water Strategy is being developed. This builds on previous consultation with Aboriginal communities, Traditional Owners and representative organisations including NSW Aboriginal peak bodies. From 2018 – 2023, over 75 workshops were held, and the following 6 principles were adopted:

• Culture - acknowledge the central role of water in Aboriginal culture, and its inter-dependencies with economic, social and environmental outcomes.
• Health and well-being - acknowledge that water (quality and quantity) is critical to sustaining healthy communities, which underpins the ability to live on and care for Country.
• Caring for Country - improve and enable access to Country to maintain healthy waterways.
• Meaningful engagement - embed culturally appropriate Aboriginal engagement, participation, partnerships and communication processes into water management and government decision-making.
• Economic benefit - seek opportunities to use existing water and access to additional water to generate employment and business ventures.
• Shared cultural and environmental benefits - seek opportunities to use water allocated for environmental and consumptive purposes to deliver Aboriginal outcomes and benefits where synergies exist.

Timeline adjustments have been made for the development of the Aboriginal Water Strategy with an extended consultation timeline that provides more time for engagement with Aboriginal communities. This revised approach will ensure that engagement with Aboriginal communities is meaningful.

The department has established Regional Aboriginal Water Committees as a platform for Aboriginal people to continue to contribute to water management and planning. An expression of interest process was undertaken, and 12 committees have been established across the state with the first meetings scheduled for November and December 2023. The committees will operate until 30 June 2025 and include women, men, Elders and young people.

In May 2023, the department held the first water conference for Aboriginal women in NSW. Over 115 Aboriginal women came together to share their perspectives on water management and their shared desire for women to have a voice in decision-making to ensure cultural and heritage issues are addressed, and to improve water management practices for everyone.

The department has committed to increasing Aboriginal ownership of and access to water for cultural and economic purposes. As part of this, a Cultural Watering Plans project is being piloted to help identify opportunities for greater Aboriginal access and ownership of water and to provide cultural information and data to improve water policy.

Working collaboratively with Aboriginal people and community groups, each Cultural Watering Plan will outline the community’s cultural watering objectives, ways in which the water could be accessed, and any obstacles to achieving the desired outcomes.

Over the reporting period, an expression of interest process for participation in the Cultural Water Plan project was undertaken. Many applications were received, of which 6 were selected.  Development of all 6 Cultural Watering Plans has commenced. The pilot plans are located across the state covering coastal, northern, southern, and western regions, across a range of water sources including regulated and unregulated surface water and groundwater.

Development of these plans is driven by local communities. When complete, the plans will be owned by local communities and the department will receive summary reports to understand issues and opportunities. A review will be undertaken when all pilot project plans and reports are received to assess how similar approaches can be adopted across the state.

The NSW Government supports the capital upgrade and operation, maintenance and monitoring of water and sewerage systems in 63 eligible Aboriginal communities through the Aboriginal Communities Water and Sewer Program. The program aims to improve the health and wellbeing of residents by providing safe and effective drinking water and sewerage services.

Recently completed projects undertaken with our stakeholders include:

• A $3 million upgrade to Namatjira’s raw water supply ensuring the community has a reliable water supply for all outdoor purposes. In collaboration with Dareton Local Aboriginal Land Council, Wentworth Shire Council, NSW Public Works and contractors, the upgrades have increased the community’s water capacity by over 18%.
  
  The new water supply tanks have been painted to celebrate the region’s cultural connection to land and water. The tank murals depict a vision of Maura/Barkindji people fishing and living along the banks of the Murray River.
• A new river intake was constructed for Jubullum to provide cleaner and safer drinking water for the Aboriginal community. The upgrade replaced a failing infiltration system with an ultrafiltration plant. This project won the infrastructure project innovation award at the NSW Australian Water Association Awards in March 2023.
• A new chlorine dosing system at Summervale in collaboration with Summervale Local Aboriginal Land Council, Walcha Sire Council and contractors. The project boosted residual chlorine levels ensuring the community receives quality water that meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

These projects add to the previously completed upgrades of the treatment plant and Clarence riverbank stabilisation work at Malabugilmah.