Review of existing cultural and social initiatives,
and key groups and organisations across northern
Australia associated with water
Cathy Robinson, Sue Jackson, Anna Straton, Rachel Eberhard,
Tabatha Wallington, Peta Dzidic, Jeff Camkin and Erin Bohensky
Final Report – August 2009
Water for a Healthy Country Flagship Report series ISSN: 1835-095X
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Citation: Robinson, CJ., S. Jackson, A. Straton, R. Eberhard, T. Wallington, P. Dzedic, J.
Camkin and E. Bohensky 2009. Review of existing cultural and social initiatives and key
groups and organisations across northern Australia associated with water.
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CONTENTS
Contents ..................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... iii
Executive Summary ................................................................................................... iii
1.
Introduction........................................................................................................ 1
1.1.
1.2.
Review tasks and approach ...................................................................................... 2
Definition of cultural values, beliefs and Indigenous practices associated with water
across Northern Australia ......................................................................................... 4
1.2.1.
1.2.2.
1.3.
Social and economic issues relevant to cultural values, beliefs and practices ........ 7
1.3.1.
1.3.2.
1.3.3.
1.4.
2.
Structure of report ..................................................................................................... 8
Geographies of Northern Australia ......................................................................... 10
Cultural values, beliefs and practices associated with water ................................. 11
2.2.1.
2.2.2.
2.2.3.
2.2.4.
2.2.5.
Indigenous economies and livelihoods ................................................................ 12
Non-resident values............................................................................................. 13
Industry values .................................................................................................... 13
Tourism values .................................................................................................... 14
National Security values ...................................................................................... 14
Research initiatives and existing projects across Northern Australia......... 15
3.1.1.
3.1.2.
3.1.3.
3.1.4.
3.1.5.
3.1.6.
3.1.7.
3.1.8.
3.1.9.
3.1.10.
3.1.11.
3.1.12.
3.1.13.
3.2.
3.3.
4.
Interests – formalised and informal........................................................................ 7
Social issues.......................................................................................................... 7
Economic issues.................................................................................................... 8
Water context in Northern Australia ................................................................. 9
2.1.
2.2.
3.
Cultural values ....................................................................................................... 4
Cultural values, beliefs and practices of Indigenous peoples ................................ 5
Land and Water Australia Social and Economic Values of Northern Rivers ........ 15
Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce..................................................... 15
The nature of northern Australia .......................................................................... 16
Northern Australian Irrigation Futures .................................................................. 16
Recognition of Indigenous knowledge, rights, interests and values in river research and
management........................................................................................................ 17
Recreational and Indigenous fishing surveys ...................................................... 18
Indigenous connections between fresh and saltwater environments ................... 18
Indigenous socio-economic values and river flows .............................................. 18
The value of tropical river ecosystem services .................................................... 19
A cultural and conservation economy for Northern Australia ............................... 19
Securing the North............................................................................................... 19
Defending the Environment ................................................................................. 19
Healthy planning for Northern Australia’s natural resources ................................ 20
Water reform in Australia ........................................................................................ 20
Indigenous Water Issues and National Water Reform ........................................... 20
Regions in Timor Sea Drainage Division ....................................................... 23
4.1.
Research initiatives and existing projects ............................................................... 24
4.1.1.
4.1.2.
4.1.3.
4.1.4.
4.1.5.
4.1.6.
4.1.7.
Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP)................................ 24
Biology and cultural significance of the freshwater sawfish (Pristis microdon) in the
Fitzroy River, Kimberley, Western Australia ........................................................ 25
Current and future demand for irrigation water in Western Australia ................... 25
Fitzroy River system: environmental values ........................................................ 25
Fitzroy Valley Indigenous cultural values study (a preliminary assessment) ....... 25
Irrigation review final report ................................................................................. 25
Kimberley water allocation planning: overview of stakeholder issues .................. 26
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page iii
4.1.8.
4.1.9.
4.1.10.
4.1.11.
4.1.12.
4.1.13.
4.1.14.
4.1.15.
4.1.16.
4.1.17.
4.1.18.
4.1.19.
4.1.20.
4.2.
Water legislation and planning ................................................................................ 28
4.2.1.
4.2.2.
4.2.3.
5.
Ministerial and Departmental Responsibility ........................................................ 28
Water Legislation ................................................................................................. 29
WA Water Policy and Planning Framework ......................................................... 29
Northern Territory regions in Gulf of Carpentaria ......................................... 33
5.1.
Research activities and existing projects ................................................................ 34
5.1.1.
5.1.2.
5.1.3.
5.1.4.
5.1.5.
5.1.6.
5.1.7.
5.1.8.
5.1.9.
5.1.10.
5.1.11.
5.1.12.
5.1.13.
5.1.14.
5.1.15.
5.1.16.
5.1.17.
5.1.18.
5.2.
Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP)................................ 34
Recreational and Indigenous fishing surveys ...................................................... 34
Aboriginal perspectives on land-use and water management in the Daly River region
............................................................................................................................ 34
Top End water studies ......................................................................................... 34
Ballad of the Northern Territory ........................................................................... 35
Aquatic conservation values of the Daly River catchment ................................... 35
Daly Region Community Reference Group ......................................................... 35
Economic potential for irrigated agriculture ......................................................... 35
Indigenous water values and interests ................................................................ 35
Natural resources and development in the Daly River-Sturt Plateau region ........ 35
Social values of the Daly region .......................................................................... 35
Sustainable farming and grazing systems for the semi-arid tropics ..................... 36
Securing the long-term protection of the Daly River ............................................ 36
Landscape design for maintaining ecosystem services in tropical agricultural landscapes
............................................................................................................................ 36
Institutions for water trading and policy making in the tropical savannas ............ 36
Cost-benefit analysis of Mary River salinity mitigation ......................................... 36
Water resources of the Howard River region ....................................................... 36
Yanyuwa land and sea management .................................................................. 37
Water legislation and planning ................................................................................ 37
5.2.1.
5.2.2.
5.2.3.
5.2.4.
5.2.5.
5.2.6.
5.2.7.
5.2.8.
5.2.9.
6.
Ngapa Kunangkul: living water – report on the Aboriginal cultural values of groundwater
in the La Grange sub-basin ................................................................................. 26
Assessing the potential for sustainable cotton production in the Kimberley ........ 26
Kimberley water ways .......................................................................................... 26
Options for bringing water to Perth from the Kimberley ....................................... 26
Wetlands of the north-western Great Sandy Desert in the La Grange hydrological subbasin .................................................................................................................... 27
Establishing priorities for wetland conservation and management in the Kimberley27
Effective approaches for environmental and wastewater management and training: the
Birdwood Downs case studies in the Kimberley region of Western Australia ...... 27
The impact of tourism on the Gibb River Road .................................................... 27
Independent travellers in the north Kimberley: benefits, impacts and management
challenges ........................................................................................................... 27
The Kimberley Aquaculture Aboriginal Corporation (KAAC): Manbana Hatchery and
Discovery Centre ................................................................................................. 28
Ord River social research .................................................................................... 28
Ord Bonaparte integrated research program ....................................................... 28
Allocating for the future of the Lower Ord River ................................................... 28
Ministerial and Departmental Responsibility ........................................................ 37
Water Legislation, Policy and Planning Framework ............................................. 38
Water Control District Declaration ....................................................................... 38
Integrated Natural Resource Management Strategy for the Northern Territory ... 38
Water allocation plans ......................................................................................... 38
Water Licensing ................................................................................................... 39
Monitoring and Assessment ................................................................................ 39
Status of Water Planning in the Northern Territory .............................................. 39
Unallocated water ................................................................................................ 39
Queensland Regions in Gulf of Carpentaria .................................................. 40
6.1.
Research activities and existing projects ................................................................ 40
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
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6.1.1.
6.1.2.
6.1.3.
6.1.4.
6.1.5.
6.1.6.
6.2.
Water legislation and planning ................................................................................ 41
6.2.1.
6.2.2.
7.
Status of water planning across Queensland’s northern catchments .................. 43
Wild Rivers .......................................................................................................... 44
North Coral Region .......................................................................................... 46
7.1.
Research activities and existing projects ................................................................ 46
7.1.1.
7.1.2.
7.1.3.
7.1.4.
7.1.5.
7.1.6.
7.2.
8.
Gulf and Mitchell land and water assessment ..................................................... 40
Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP)................................ 40
Benefits and costs of tourism for remote communities ........................................ 40
Salinity risk in the Cattle Creek sub-catchment ................................................... 41
State of the rivers: Mitchell River and major tributaries ....................................... 41
Cultural landscapes and environmental values ................................................... 41
Natural heritage significance of Cape York Peninsula ......................................... 46
Water supply planning study report ..................................................................... 47
Far North Queensland sustainable industries study ............................................ 47
Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy ............................................................ 47
Far North Queensland sustainable industries study ............................................ 48
Input into Water Resource Plans and Wild River legislation ................................ 48
Water legislation and planning ................................................................................ 48
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 49
Glossary .................................................................................................................... 50
References ................................................................................................................ 51
Appendices ............................................................................................................... 58
Appendix 1: Register of key organisations across Northern Australia associated with Northern
Australia (Excel data base) ..................................................................................... 58
Appendix 2: Endnote library of available literature ........................................................... 58
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page v
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Drainage Divisions covered by the Assessment ...................................................... 1
Figure 2: Reporting regions defined by the Assessment ........................................................ 2
Figure 3: Responsibilities for water management in Western Australia. Source: National
Water Commission website. 3 June 2009............................................................... 29
Figure 4: Western Australia’s water policy framework. Source: WA Department of Water
website. 3 June 2009. ............................................................................................ 30
Figure 5: The WA Water Planning Framework. Source: Department of Water website. 3 June
2009. ...................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 6: Responsibilities for water management in the Northern Territory. Source: National
Water Commission website. 3 June 2009............................................................... 37
Figure 7: Water Legislation and Planning Framework in the NT. Source: National Water
Commission website. 3 June 2009. ........................................................................ 38
Figure 8: Responsibilities for water management in Queensland. Source: National Water
Commission website. 3 June 2009. ........................................................................ 41
Figure 9: Queensland Water Legislation and Planning Framework. Source: National Water
Commission website. 3 June 2009. ........................................................................ 42
Figure 10: Status of water plans in Queensland. Source: Queensland Department of Natural
Resources and Water website. May 2009. ............................................................. 44
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks go to TRACK (Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge) who kindly shared
their reports with the research team. The timely and professional assistance offered by
Sarah Nichol, Melissa Green and Ildiko was invaluable.
We would also like to acknowledge the help by representatives from Indigenous
organisations, regional NRM bodies, industry groups and government agencies who
provided critical information to inform this review.
This review forms part of a consultancy funded by the Northern Australia Water Futures
Assessment (NAWFA) Cultural and Social Program. The overarching objective of the
Assessment is to provide an enduring knowledge base to inform the development and
protection of Northern Australia’s water resources, so that development proceeds in an
ecologically, culturally and economically sustainable manner. The aim of the Cultural and
Social Program is to understand the socio-cultural values, beliefs and practices associated
with water and how they maybe affected by changes in water availability It is being delivered
jointly by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) and
the National Water Commission.
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page iii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts in
consultation with the National Water Commission, has commissioned CSIRO to review
projects, research initiatives and water planning processes relevant to cultural values, beliefs
and practices, including those that relate to social and economic issues, associated with
water across northern Australia. A register of key Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and
organisations across northern Australia with an interest in water is also provided. In this
context, Northern Australia covers the Timor Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria drainage divisions
and that part of the north-east coast drainage division that lies north of Cairns.
This report responds to the aim of the Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment
(NAWFA) Cultural and Social Program which was established to understand the sociocultural values, beliefs and practices associated with water and how they maybe affected by
changes in water availability. This review adds to the broader information base that is
currently being used in order to inform development and protection of northern Australia’s
water sources, so that development proceeds in an ecologically, cultural and economically
sustainable manner.
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page iii
1. INTRODUCTION
This report provides a review of available knowledge associated with the social and cultural
values, beliefs and Indigenous practices relevant to water across Northern Australia. This
review addresses a task of the Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment (NAWFA)
(http://www.environment.gov.au/nawfa) Cultural and Social Program that has the aim of
understanding the socio-cultural values, beliefs and practices associated with water and how
they maybe affected by changes in water availability. It is being delivered jointly by the
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) and the National
Water Commission (NWC).
The Assessment will ultimately bring together existing information on the water resources of
the northern Australia landscape and the watering needs of key ecosystem, community and
cultural assets and, where a clear need for additional information is identified, commission
new work. The Assessment includes the key surface and groundwater systems and basins
within the Timor Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria drainage divisions, and that part of the North
East Coast Drainage Divisions north of Cairns (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Drainage Divisions covered by the Assessment
For reporting purposes, each Drainage Division has been divided into regions. Where
possible the review of existing projects and research initiatives will be referring to these
regions (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Reporting regions defined by the Assessment
A Steering Committee has been established to oversee the work of the Assessment with
members drawn from the northern jurisdictions and Australian Government agencies, as
appropriate. The Steering Committee has developed an Assessment Project Plan that sets
out objectives, key deliverables, timelines and a budget. To assist the Steering Committee,
Working Groups have been established across four Programs: Water Resources Program,
Ecological Program, Cultural and Social Program, and Knowledge Base Program. The
Cultural and Social Working Group met in August 2008 and provided advice to the Steering
Committee on a work plan for the Cultural and Social Program. This consultancy addresses
the first aspect of the work plan.
1.1. Review tasks and approach
The key tasks undertaken as part of this component of the NAWFA work include:

A review of existing projects, research initiatives and water planning processes
relevant to cultural values, beliefs and practices, including those that relate to social
and economic issues, associated with water across northern Australia.

The identification of Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and organisations across
northern Australia with an interest in water.
The methodology used to undertake this review involved three key activities. Firstly, a
desktop review (grey and white literature) was done. This drew on electronic and print
resources of existing projects, research initiatives and water planning processes relevant to
cultural values, beliefs and practices (including those that relate to social and economic
issues) associated with water across northern Australia. This review found the research done
by Stoeckl, Stanley, Brown, Jackson and Straton’s (2006) assessment of social and
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page 2
economic values of Australia’s tropical rivers and Jackson and O’Leary’s (2006) scoping
study of Indigenous interests in Tropical Rivers to be particularly useful. The work of Larson
and Alexandridis (2009) also provides a useful outline of socio-economic profiles of Northern
Australian communities.
Literature search of grey literature, included:

Relevant CRCs (i.e. Irrigation Futures)

Universities (i.e. Griffith, Centre for Water Research UWA)

CSIRO (i.e. Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre)

Relevant local, State (WA, NT and QLD) and Commonwealth government agencies

Relevant local, State (WA, NT & QLD) and regional non-government agencies

Research centres (i.e. CERF, LWA, BRS)

Professional and research consultancies.
Literature search of white literature (journals, conference proceedings, etc.) utilised
databases across a range of natural and social science disciplines, including geography,
planning, anthropology, economics, sociology, ecology, environmental sciences and
traditional knowledge.
Secondly, a citation database to manage the sources obtained through the review process
was compiled. This is attached as an Endnote file. Thirdly, a comprehensive stakeholder
database was developed that identifies key Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and
organisations across Northern Australia who have an interest in water. This is attached as a
separate Excel spreadsheet.
Thirdly, feedback on the content on a draft version of this report was sought from members
of the NAWFA Cultural and Social Working Group and representatives of key Indigenous and
non-Indigenous groups and organisations (see Table 1).
Location /
Group or Organisational Representatives
Organisation
Northern Australia
NAWFA Cultural and Social Working Group
Canberra
Indigenous Ministerial Working Group
Working on Country Unit
Queensland
Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation
Cape York Partnerships
Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management
Office
Cape York Regional NRM Body
Northern Gulf Regional NRM Body
Southern Gulf Regional NRM Body
Cairns and Far North Environment Centre
Northern Territory
NAILSMA
Resource Management Division, Department of Natural Resources,
Environment and the Arts
NT Regional Natural Resource Management Body
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page 3
Western Australia
(Kununurra)
Department of Water
DEWR
Kimberly Land Council
Yawoorroong Miriuwung Gajerrong Yirrgeb Noong Dawang
Aboriginal Corporation
NAILSMA Water Facilitator
Rangelands NRM Co-ordinating Group
Table 1: Organisations and groups contacted and consulted about the content of this report and
perspectives on directions and priorities for future research
1.2. Definition of cultural values, beliefs and Indigenous practices
associated with water across Northern Australia
To undertake the review of existing cultural and social initiatives, there was also a need to
define the meaning of ‘cultural values, beliefs and practices’. A review of the literature that
has defined these terms is outlined below.
1.2.1.
Cultural values
There are many different meanings associated with the terms ‘value’ and ‘values’ and,
perhaps as a result, they have been poorly defined in policies related to water planning and
other natural resource management (NRM) activities (Jackson 2006; Tan et al. 2008). In
particular, Syme and Hatfield-Dodds (2007, 18) note that in the Australian water reforms,
‘culture as an input to water resource policy has been given little or no substantive attention’.
Indeed, there are no nationally endorsed guidelines to provide consistent accounting for
‘cultural values’ in water planning. This is perhaps because of the tendency for ‘cultural
values’ to be unquestionably associated with spiritual significance, and particularly with
Indigenous heritage values (Jackson 2006). For instance, a spiritual and exclusively
Indigenous focus is associated with the interpretation of ‘cultural value’ in the National Water
Quality Management Strategy’s guidelines for protecting ‘environmental values’ (Woodward,
Jackson and Stratton 2008).
Values may also be broadly defined as the ‘goals a person selects to organise meaning in
his or her life’ (Veroff 1983, xiii). Values shape, and are shaped by, the complex problems a
person must continuously adapt to in life, and the settings in which adaptation takes place
(Veroff 1983, xvii). According to this understanding, values are generated by interactions
between an individual and their environment, but exist in a state of flux, influenced by the
internal and external dynamics of an individual’s life. A culturally rich description of values,
and how they are formed, is given by Strang (1997, 178).
… values are received, inculcated and passed on through a process of
socialisation that creates a culturally specific relationship with the environment.
This process consists of several elements: the creation of categories, the
learning of language, and the acquisition and dissemination of cultural
knowledge. Each involves an interaction with the physical, social and cultural
environment and contributes to the formation of individual and cultural identity.
Values are therefore an endogenous property of any planning process in which social groups
seek to define what is important, and what deserves recognition (see Jackson 2006). It
follows that, in such planning contexts, we should expect contestation over the definition of
what is ‘valuable’ (Strang 2005).
The term ‘value’, in common parlance is understood to mean that something has merit or
importance, is of worth, or is cared about (Woodward et al. 2008). The tendency in Australian
NRM has been to establish separate categories of value—described as economic, social,
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page 4
environmental, and sometimes cultural—as a means of encompassing the ‘triple-bottom-line’
evaluations central to the overarching policy goal of ecological sustainability. In terms of the
early COAG reforms, however, it has been argued that the emphasis on market-based water
trading systems has ‘unintentionally framed’ the reform dialogue in terms of individual selfinterest. As a result, the assessment of social and cultural values has been downplayed
within a discourse that ‘... assesses outcomes primarily in terms of economic criteria rather
than a balance between social, environmental and economic considerations’ (Syme and
Hatfield-Dodds 2007, 18). Social and cultural values associated with non-use or nonconsumptive values were given relatively little emphasis in the early period of the COAG
water reform (Syme and Hatfield-Dodds 2007).
An approach for assessing and categorising the values of a natural resource that
incorporates both ‘use’ and ‘non-use’ benefits is the total economic value (TEV) framework
(Stoeckl et al. 2006). A distinction between use values, and non-use or non-consumptive
values, highlights that human valuations of nature exist along ‘a continuum from entirely selfdirected and consumptive uses, and include also human spiritual values and aesthetic
values, and also non-instrumental valuations’ (Norton 2000, 1038). Use values then include
the non-consumptive use of water, where water provides a cultural benefit that does not
generate a direct economic return. The Northern Territory Water Act 2004, for example,
defines such cultural beneficial uses of water as those which meet aesthetic, recreational
and cultural needs (Woodward et al. 2008). This definition includes environmental (e.g. to
maintain healthy waterways) and riparian (e.g. public or ownership rights to take water for
homes and other uses along waterways) uses of water in order to recognise their close
connection with cultural values. Defined in this way, cultural beneficial uses are of interest to:
… any person or group who appreciates waterways and wetlands for their
beauty or inspiration, as places where they might enjoy nature, swim, fish,
hunt, camp or picnic, and as sites of spiritual, historical or archaeological
significance. It also includes the importance of waterways and water places to
Aboriginal tradition and culture, and to the beliefs, practices, identity and wayof-life of any group with an interest in the land and waterscapes of the region
(Woodward et al. 2008, 15).
In this review, cultural values are seen as including the full range of use and non-use values,
as all pertain to what is important and to standards that explain past actions and determine
decisions about the future (Braithwaite and Scott 1991). In this review cultural values for
water are also recognised to be intrinsically related to water management whereby values
are influenced by, and in turn influence, the way in which water is used, shared and
contested.
1.2.2.
Cultural values, beliefs and practices of Indigenous peoples
Indigenous values, beliefs and practices in relation to water has been a topic of great interest
to contemporary research and project activities in Northern Australia. The day-to-day
activities and practices of Indigenous people in relation to water are carried out within the
context of broader social arrangements and cultural practices. These cultural practices and
social institutions, in turn, reveal the importance of water in Aboriginal cosmology and belief
systems (Cooper and Jackson 2008). Thus, as Cooper and Jackson (2008, 4) explain:
While there exists distinct and, indeed, profoundly-important aspects of cultural
practices and beliefs relating to water, it is impossible to abstract such
practices and beliefs from the broader processes and institutions that shape
and give meaning to Indigenous cultures and to the social arrangements, lived
experience and relationships to land of Indigenous people.
Cultural practices relating to water include talking to country, ‘watering’ strangers and others,
restrictions on behaviour and activities, protecting others from harm and management and
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
Page 5
protection of sites. Fishing is a part of most Aboriginal use of water sites, whether that is the
primary reason for visiting a location or not. Recreational hunting, customary hunting and
collecting, and other activities related to heritage, education and leisure also have cultural
significance (Woodward et al. 2008). These practices are a consequence of a belief in the
continuing spiritual presence of creation beings in the landscape, as well as of ancestors
returned to their country as spirits. The Yolgnu from North-east Arnhem Land, for example,
draw on the Ganma water place and metaphor of knowledge to provide the framework to
negotiate new knowledge and environmental practices needed to co-manage their traditional
land and sea estates (Robinson and Munungguritj 2001).
Cultural utilisation of water sites also increasingly includes an economic component related
to Aboriginal cultural tourism. The employment and education benefits offered by this kind of
activity, combined with its compatibility with customary priorities, including the maintenance
of cultural knowledge, has resulted in the commitment of local communities to further
develop cultural tourism activities (Cooper and Jackson 2008).
This is also true for the related issue of Aboriginal people’s interest in managing feral animal
impacts on important cultural and ecological areas, including water gorges, riverine areas
and waterholes. While some feral animals, such as buffaloes and horses are valued for their
food or historical significance, some of the impacts and behaviours of these animals are
judged to warrant their status as pests. Feral animal management offers a vital avenue to
enable Aboriginal people to pursue customary and cash economic activities through their
involvement in appropriate feral control programs (Robinson et al. 2005).
All Aboriginal communities within the study area are near or adjacent to significant cultural
water sites and water sources that are visited and used by community members. It is also
worth noting that connections between Indigenous cultural heritage values , beliefs and
practices are evidenced in many ways (Venn and Quiggin 2007), including:

Sources of traditional foods (wild game, fish and plants);

Sources of traditional tools, arts and crafts;

Classrooms for passing on Indigenous knowledge to children;

Settings for Dreamtime stories;

Habitat for clan totem beings;

Religious places;

Burial places;

Physical evidence of traditional occupation, including campsites, shell middens, fish
traps and scarred trees;

Venues for traditional ceremonies;

Battlegrounds in the wars of resistance against Europeans;

Clan or tribe boundary markers; and

Recreational areas.
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
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1.3. Social and economic issues relevant to cultural values, beliefs
and practices
1.3.1.
Interests – formalised and informal
The social and economic issues relevant to cultural values, beliefs and practices associated
with water in Northern Australia are generally associated with the notion of having an
‘interest’ in water. Some interests are formalised as a property right. These interests are
often for the use of water for a particular purpose such as irrigation.
There are three key components to property rights in a quantity of water (Young and McColl
2002, 60):

The entitlement – the long term interest (share) in a varying stream of periodic
allocations;

The allocation – a unit of opportunity (usually a volume), distributed periodically; and

The use licence – the permission to use allocations with pre-specified use conditions
and obligations to third parties.
Young and McColl (2002, 60) explain the differences between these components, whereby:
Entitlements define equity among those with interests in the resource,
allocations define the periodic quantity that may be extracted from the common
pool or sold, and the use licence defines the site-specific conditions pertaining
to use including limits on the degree to which users, through their actions, are
allowed to change the environment.
Of these components, the entitlement is the most valuable. Entitlements, which are granted
by governments, define the degree of access—including the nature of any expected changes
to such access—that can be expected over time.
Other interests remain ‘informal’, describing less tangible connections between people and
water that are no less important than interests that are formalised. Many social and economic
issues relevant to cultural values, beliefs and practices associated with water arise with
questions about the allocation of water for the benefit of both humans and the natural
environment.
1.3.2.
Social issues
Social scientists have highlighted that people draw on a number of principles to determine
their water allocation preferences, namely greed (self-interest), efficiency and fairness (Wilke
1991). Fairness can be characterised in terms of distributive justice (who gains and who
loses) and procedural justice, which relates to the fairness of the decision-making process.
Of these, procedural justice has been identified as the most important factor in determining
community support for a particular water allocation regime (Nancarrow and Syme 2001).
As such, social issues that continue to confront environmental water allocation include
(Schofield et al. 2003):

How to derive fair or just solutions;

How to share the pain when water users are impacted;

Who makes the decision on allocation and community acceptance of that decision;

Reassessment of values and decisions based on situational factors;

Predominance of economic evaluations resulting in less attention being given to
justice issues;
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
The structure of decision-making formats (e.g. regional) leading to the defence of
‘home values’;

The strong belief in ‘self-interest’, leading to a one-dimensional view of decision
making.
1.3.3.
Economic issues
Economic issues relevant to cultural values, beliefs and practices associated with water
generally arise when water is used as an input into a productive process, such as irrigation,
pastoralism or mining. Questions are asked about the economic value of the water, the
economic efficiency of the production process, and whether water is flowing to the highest
value use. The movement towards expanding the trade of water in the National Water
Initiative brings this latter question to the fore in the Australian water reform process (refer to
section 2.2.1).
Economic issues associated with water can also arise in relation to the need to enhance
environmental flows in river systems. Such issues include (Schofield et al. 2003):

Improving water allocation and water trading arrangements;

Assessment of the costs and benefits of increasing allocations to the environment;

Understanding the impacts of, and managing reductions in, allocations for
consumptive water use;

Development of cost-effective ways to enhance environmental flows;

Improving administrative arrangements for the management of water allocations.
Economic issues can also arise when alternative allocation scenarios are being evaluated
based on their relative value and impact on community welfare. Here, economic valuation
may be used to measure all costs and benefits in the same terms. While economic
valuations of particular elements of Indigenous cultural heritage are increasingly common
internationally, particularly valuations associated with resource use values, the total
economic valuation of Indigenous cultural heritage values using price-based, non-market
valuation techniques is unlikely to be feasible (Venn and Quiggin 2007).
1.4. Structure of report
In the introduction, the context of this desktop review has been outlined and key terms
framing the analysis have been defined. Attention will now turn to reviewing existing projects,
research initiatives and water planning processes. The focus of the review will remain on
projects, research initiatives and water planning processes relevant to cultural values, beliefs
and practices, including those that relate to social and economic issues, associated with
water across Northern Australia.
Chapter 2 provides contextual information relevant to northern Australia. Chapter 3 reviews
projects and research activities that are generic to the entire Northern Australian region. This
will be followed by reviews for the Timor Sea Drainage Division (Chapter 4), Northern
Territory regions in the Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division (Chapter 5), and Queensland
regions in the Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division (Chapter 6) and finally the North Coral
region of the North East Drainage Division (Chapter 7). Where possible, information
reviewed will be related to regions within each drainage division. Due to the patchy and
partial nature of documented information related to this task, this was often not possible.
The report concludes with a suggestion to devise an appropriate process to enable key
research issues and priorities for cultural, economic and social dimension of water to inform
the existing knowledge base, so that development in Northern Australia might proceed in an
ecologically, culturally and economically sustainable manner.
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2. WATER CONTEXT IN NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
This chapter summarises the background information for the Northern Australian region. This
summary recognises that current projects and research activities are being undertaken in the
context of a long history of activities that viewed Northern Australia and Tropical Rivers with
a ‘frontier’ development lens. In part this reflects imported concepts of property rights that
constrained access to land and resources to settlers and saw river resources as common
property. Joe Powell’s (2000) Australian water histories highlight how imported notions of
property provided the logic behind the considerable political and financial support for large
irrigation and dam projects across Northern Australia. Charting the contentious
circumstances and spectacular failure of various national water projects led Powell (2000,
61) to wryly observe that southern bureaucrats’ ‘...wily manipulations of the ‘EDNA factor’
(referring to the Economic Development of Northern Australia) were creating the daftest of
white elephants’ through repeated efforts to develop this peripheral region.
During the early 1960s, the contest over Indigenous and environmental rights erupted in
earnest and led to the achievement of guarantees for sustainable cultural and ecological
biodiversity. The persistent activism from Indigenous groups employing local, national and
international legal and political avenues has seen native title recognised in Australia.
European perceptions of a single Northern ‘wilderness’ have slowly been replaced by the
recognition of multiple countries that are being managed by Indigenous governance and
decision-making arrangements. Terms such as ‘production’, ‘management’, and
‘stewardship’ have been related to Indigenous tenure, knowledge and resource utilisation.
Various and extensive accounts about Indigenous property and management regimes have
revealed that the supposed ‘untamed wilderness’ has in fact been physically and culturally
transformed by Indigenous people for thousands of years. Recognition of the full dimensions
of native title has led to a consideration of the issues associated with Indigenous property
rights, which have important implications for Indigenous governance for water planning and
management decisions (Jackson and Morrison 2001; Holmes 2002.
Policy preoccupations with material and social progress dependent upon resource
exploitation have also been challenged by local communities and stakeholders directly
affected by the process. Recent assessments of local landholder values highlighted a critical
shift in our understanding - rivers are now seen as an environment to sites and places where
complex, dynamic and shared values exist (Strang 2005; Stoeckl et al. 2006). While most of
this work is at preliminary stages, it highlights the complexity of water interests that exist
across Northern Australia – including those held by Indigenous communities, graziers,
irrigators, resource managers, scientists, catchment and regional NRM bodies, and
international non-government organisations. This work also highlights that significant
knowledge gaps still exist about where, what and how these values, beliefs and Indigenous
practices can be appropriately incorporated in decision-making with respect to the NAWFA
objective of sustainable development and protection of northern Australia’s water resources.
There has also been a monumental shift in the way natural resource planning decisions and
management solutions are made. Traditional modes of government-driven planning informed
by ‘rational’ scientific information have been replaced by systems of governance that provide
citizens and non-government organisations with resources and responsibilities to contribute
to planning decisions (Lane et al. 2004). To achieve this goal, various integrated planning
and management arrangements have been established and facilitated through a plethora of
decentralised local and regional water and natural resource management groups.
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The National Water Initiative seeks to achieve strategic water planning
and management through an effective system of governance. This
requires an institutional capacity to utilise multiple sources of
information to inform planning decisions, facilitate the cooperation of
multiple resource users and interest groups, and coordinate the
activities of government, communities and private sectors.
The Council of Australian Governments water reforms of the 1990s laid much of the
foundations for the current initiatives occurring under the National Water Initiative (NWI).
These reforms have focused on sustainable productivity, the deployment of multiple policy
instruments (including market and property right mechanisms) and provisions for
environmental flows. This has led to the consideration that water planning must not only
tackle issues of water allocation and volume, but also quality and timing of flows to maintain
healthy water ecosystems (NWI 2004, p. 5)
The NWI is a significant shift in Australia’s approach to water planning because it provides
formal recognition of multiple values, policy mechanisms and interests in water and also
because all water-related legislation must comply with this national statement (Connell,
Dovers and Grafton 2005). Non-government catchment and regional organisations have
played a critical role in facilitating the planning and delivery of water management programs.
A credible and legitimate knowledge base is critical to make informed
decisions about the quality and timing of water flows needed to sustain
the multiple and dynamic values of Australia’s Northern rivers
2.1. Geographies of Northern Australia
The assessment of social and economic values of Australia’s Tropical Rivers undertaken by
Stoeckl et al. (2006) highlights the relationship between water availability and human
population characteristics. Both the CSIRO North Australia Sustainable Yield and Stoeckl et
al. (2006) bodies of work highlight the important relationship between water, human
populations, land use activities and values. The variability of water availability across
Northern Australia has also been emphasised. River basins in the north-eastern corner of the
Northern Territory were assessed by Stoeckl et al (2006) to have access to relatively
abundant supplies of water, whereas those in Western Australia and Queensland generally
have fewer perennial rivers. Some basins (such as Broome’s water supply) have little
perennial water per head of population and so people in those regions may need to rely on
aquifers and/or dams for water during the dry season (Stoeckl et al 2006, 15).
Larson and Alexandridis (2009) have recently conducted a socio-economic profile of
Northern Australian regions and found that many drainage divisions are characterised by
remote, small and scattered human populations. Stoeckl et al (2006, 44) report that most of
Northern Australia is classified as remote or very remote (Remoteness Index of Australia;
http://www.gisca.adelaide.edu.au/web_aria.html).
The work of Jackson and O’Leary (2006) and others has emphasised the growing
recognition of Indigenous rights to water and water management decision-making. In the
Northern Territory, for example, approximately 85% of the coastline and 50% of the total land
mass is held under Aboriginal title. Under Commonwealth land rights legislation a range of
wetland landscape types can be claimed, including the beds and banks of rivers, the intertidal zone, bays and gulfs, and islands. Native title rights encompass rights to the use of
natural resources in accordance with tradition. The extent to which native rights include
access to natural resources in rivers and cultural quality and level of water flows continue to
be subject to discussion and deliberation in Australia and overseas (e.g. Tan 2008).
Work done by planners and geographers have highlighted that interests in Northern Australia
are uniquely multi-scalar, dynamic and complex. Holmes (2002), for example, has shown
how rural landscapes in Australia’s rangelands are socially and politically diverse and, in
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ecological and primary production terms, are multifunctional. Conditions of globalisation,
local differentiation, and political reflexivity mean that many rural regions are marked by:
uncertain, complex and often contradictory modes of decision making, swayed by
multiple interest-groups, each with its own distinctive set of values and ideologies, not
susceptible to swift resolution in multiple-value, multiple-use contests” (Holmes 2002
p.372).
Taylor et al. (2006) analysed the implications that these unique institutional, social and
economic characteristics had on efforts to achieve healthy natural resource planning systems
in Northern Australia. In a case-study report on water planning, for example, McDonald and
Heyenga (2006) note the plethora of fragmented water plans that exist across Northern
Australia. The authors note that very few regional NRM plans could define credible resource
condition targets for water that met the then Natural Heritage Trust program expectations.
2.2. Cultural values, beliefs and practices associated with water
The work of Stoeckl et al. (2006) also highlights that water scarcity is particularly important in
efforts to assess and maintain existing values for Northern Australian rivers. When little
permanent water is available, anything that affects the quantity or quality of even one water
hole may have a significant regional impact. As such, any assessment of socio-cultural
values, beliefs and practices as they relate to water needs to be framed by this hydrological
context. As Stoeckl et al. (2006, 16) highlight:
At least some social and economic values will vary according to water scarcity
and function. That is, those living near perennial rivers may ‘value’ their rivers
differently than those living in areas where rivers flow only intermittently.
The Stoeckl et al (2006) report also identifies key water value categories that exist across
Northern Australia’s drainage divisions which include:

Values that exist independently of direct human use (e.g. bequest value, option
value);

Water’s humanitarian value as a fundamental requirement of all life (ie public water
supply);

The aesthetic and recreational values that rivers provide to residents and domestic
and international tourists;

The production value of water extracted for industries such as agriculture and mining;

The conservation significance of tropical rivers, particularly their promotion of
biodiversity; and

The value of cultural group associations with rivers and water in forming identity and
generating a sense of well-being and belonging.
A review of available knowledge and activities associated with social, cultural and economic
values for Northern Australia’s water shows that values exist for both permanent and
ephemeral water-based ecosystems, and include the region’s diverse riparian areas and
wetland types, and its groundwater systems. While there has been significant research on
freshwater values, it is important to note that many local, Indigenous and recreational
industry group values are explicitly linked to intertidal dimensions of Northern Australian
rivers, or do not use the same boundaries in their articulation of water values (e.g. Peterson
and Rigsby 1998; Robinson and Munungguritj 2001).
Wetlands that exist across Northern Australia are diverse, including small semi-permanent or
permanent waterholes in gorge systems, spring systems in rainforest areas, and seasonal
freshwater lakes or swamps, such as those typically found in Kakadu National Park’s
floodplains (Woinarski et al. 2007). Research and project activities suggest that wetlands
form a critical node of multiple water values and for collaborative management efforts. In
general, the values of wetlands are poorly documented. Woinarski et al. (2007) note that
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some wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention as being internationally important for
waterbirds while the current Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia lists 33 wetlands,
most of these located in the Top End. Many wetlands contain important Aboriginal sacred
sites and are the focus for customary wildlife harvest activities. Some are also used for
grazing stock, fishing, recreation and tourism.
Wetlands and waterholes also provide a focal area of community, non-government
organisation (NGO) interest to protect water values and have often been a focal site where
conflict between values has been highlighted. In her history of the cattle enterprise in
Northern Australia, for example, MacGrath (1987, p, 5) documents the damaging impact of
cattle watering points on Indigenous customary activities and sacred sites. Palmer (2004)
suggests that similar impacts are caused by tourists who defy the protocols to ask
permission to enjoy the escarpment waterholes of Kakadu National Park. On the other hand,
the collaborative efforts to rehabilitate and manage cultural, ecological and production values
of important wetlands in Kakadu and Gulf of Carpentaria suggests that wetlands can also
provide a focus point where management goals are reasonably congruent (e.g. Robinson et
al. 2005; Northern Gulf Regional NRM Plan, 2004).
2.2.1.
Indigenous economies and livelihoods
Jackson and Langton (2006) emphasise that, for many Indigenous people, water places are
the core of cultural landscapes and at the heart of keeping the country healthy and giving life
to the land. On the other hand, Stoeckl et al (2006) draw on ABS data to note that many
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – especially those living in remote communities
– do not have reliable supplies of water. The LWA scoping study of Indigenous interests in
the tropical rivers TRACK program undertaken by Jackson and O’Leary (2006) has made a
preliminary effort to determine north Australian Indigenous people’s interests in, and
aspirations for, river use, protection and management. The authors note that many
Indigenous communities are quick to identify numerous environmental threats and social
problems associated with environmental change, increasing demand for water resources and
changing environmental management systems. Loss of ecological and ritual knowledge
amongst Indigenous communities is a social change that confronts possibly every language,
clan or family group.
Indigenous people’s strong and enduring interest in the diverse and relatively intact riverine
and riparian systems motivates communities: to undertake management activities, thereby
fulfilling cultural responsibilities; to collaborate with government agencies and stakeholders;
and to develop partnerships with researchers to exchange knowledge and solve identified
problems. Jackson and Morrison (2007) highlight that an Indigenous group’s system of
customary law dictates that traditional land-owners have a substantive role in land and water
management and resource regulation. Hence, Indigenous people expect to participate fully in
management decisions. The authors highlight that new water policy and funding
arrangements arising from the Caring for our Country and the National Water Initiative need
to identify, acknowledge and incorporate the diverse interests of Indigenous people, as well
as their distinct forms of social organisation (e.g. land tenure systems) and resource
governance systems.
Stoeckl et al (2006) outline the unique attributes of Indigenous values, beliefs and practices
of Australia’s tropical rivers and the importance of protecting these values. Their findings
concur with the work of Toussaint, Strang, Yu, Jackson and others who highlight that there
are some generic issues associated with Indigenous water values that can be identified for
all Northern Australian catchments (e.g. Jackson 2007; Toussaint et al 2005). These authors
note Indigenous people use rivers for:

A source of nutrition – “Riverine resources such as fish (bream, barramundi, catfish,
swordfish), freshwater eels, turtle, mussels and cherrabun (freshwater prawns) are a
vital part of the Aboriginal diet, especially for those trying to live on social security
(DSS) entitlements and Community Development Employment Project (CDEP)
money” (Toussaint et al 2001, p.45).
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
Fishing activities – “all along the rivers, adults and children go fishing whenever
possible…On the weekends, most community and family vehicles set off for the river
or a billabong, often to stay and fish all day and/or to camp overnight. Some
'moonlight' fishing also takes place, especially on weekends” (Toussaint et al 2001,
p.45). The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (2003) found that
fishing held great value for many Indigenous people across Northern Australia. This
value was identified as being not just for food and nutrition but also for ceremonial
occasions, exchange, trade and barter, custodianship, cultural and spiritual
attachments and for social cohesion. Fishing participation rates were between 89%
and 93% of the Indigenous population within the area surveyed

A place for recreation – “Some sites have become important recreation areas known
to be places where children can learn about the place, while also having some fun”
(Toussaint et al 2001, p.48).

A place to wash. Toussaint et al (2001, p.53) noted “the part the river often played in
enabling local people to ‘have a bogey’ [wash] in high temperature conditions when
community ablution facilities were not operating or accessible”.

Bush foods and medicines.

Knowledge exchange through language, painting and film – “The river is also a site
where children learn about cultural life from adults” (Toussaint et al 2001, p.45).

The provision of resources for ceremony – “Smoked fish are commonly sought to
accommodate food taboos … on meat for relevant kin following the death of a loved
one” (Toussaint et al 2001, p.3).

An integral part of their rights and responsibilities to look after their ‘country’
(Toussaint et al 2001, p.57).
2.2.2.
Non-resident values
The work of Holmes (1996; 2002) and Stoeckl et al (2006) also highlight the rise of amenity
values and third party interests that exist in many parts of Northern Australia. Some of these
values are held by non-resident recreational fishers, tourists and conservationists, who are
placing increasing emphasis on the new amenity and lifestyle values associated with these
locations and resources (Holmes 1996). Stoeckl et al (2006, 21) highlight that many
coexisting values are complementary and do not necessarily require exclusive occupancy
rights to satisfy or protect. They also note that the multiple values that exist in some areas
continue to generate conflict, usually over access to fishing locations or the impacts of
development on water quality and flow.
2.2.3.
Industry values
There are a number of pastoral, mining, tourism, fishing and aqua industries that have an
interest in and impact on water resources across Northern Australia. While the literature on
this is not large, a few key findings from studies reviewed highlight that these values have
been under researched and should also be considered.

Stoeckl et al (2006) note that there are a number of people employed in natural
resource industries across Northern Australia who have an interest in water
resources. A range of industry practices including mining, aquaculture, irrigated
agriculture, construction industries and commercial fishing. These authors note that
as these industries expand and human populations rise, conflict between
stakeholders is also beginning to rise (Stoeckl et al 2006, 48).

The overview of pastoral industries across Australia’s savannas compiled by the
Tropical Savannas CRC touches on the productive and cultural values held by
pastoralists. The report also highlights that if landholders are not seriously
considering irrigation, there are pressures to intensify current agricultural practices
http://savanna.ntu.edu.au/information/ar/ar_gr.html.
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
The National Oceans Office (2003) commissioned a review of literature relevant to
the Northern Planning Area. This review noted the importance of understanding the
impacts of tropical river use and functioning on marine-based industries. The focus
groups held with different fishing groups undertaken by Stoeckl et al (2006)
highlighted that issues of deteriorating water quality caused by upstream agricultural
practices is an issue of considerable concern for recreational fishermen in some
rivers of Northern Australia.

Stoeckl et al (2006, 59-61) highlight the water management challenges of mines that
are concentrated in areas that have relatively unproductive aquifers and little
perennial surface water.
2.2.4.
Tourism values
Greiner et al. (2004b) observes that most visitors to the Shire of Carpentaria are attracted to
the region for the purpose of ‘fishing’ and those visitors inject an estimated $14 million per
annum into the local economy (comprising fewer than 1500 permanent residents). Stoeckl et
al (2006) note, like the fishing industry, the tourism industry is not a high ‘consumer’ of water.
Nevertheless waterfalls, lakes, wetlands and fishing opportunities often serve the important
role of attracting tourists to a destination. Consequently whilst the industry may not ‘use-up’
water it is nevertheless dependent upon it.
2.2.5.
National Security values
In their case-study report of regional NRM planning efforts, funded by the Tropical Savannas
CRC, Robinson and Bush (2006) highlight the role the Australian Defence Force (ADF) plays
in environmental management across Northern Australia. This includes innovative
collaborative arrangements the Australian Defence Force has now established with remote
Indigenous communities to protect Northern borders against illegal immigrants or outbreaks
of significant diseases in feral animal populations. Rivers are a critical site of activity and
interest for this ADF work.
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3. RESEARCH INITIATIVES AND EXISTING PROJECTS ACROSS
NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
This chapter includes a brief overview of existing knowledge, projects, research initiatives
and water planning processes that are generic for all the Drainage Divisions across Northern
Australia. Non-government organisations with an interest in water and people across
northern Australia include conservation, regional natural resource management (NRM)
bodies, Indigenous organisations and industry representative bodies (agricultural, pastoral,
commercial and recreational fishers, mining etc). Regional NRM bodies generally provide a
focal point of community engagement and the coordinated delivery of resources for NRM,
working in partnership with government and other non-government organisations. The limited
resources and capacity across these northern institutions may encourage collaboration
amongst organisations when their objectives align. For example, regional NRM bodies
commonly partner with agricultural industry bodies to deliver pastoral management
outcomes, and with conservation groups for biodiversity outcomes.
Nationally, regional NRM arrangements are undergoing a transition phase, from the
extension of the Natural Heritage Trust (2002-2007) under the previous government to the
Caring for Our Country (2008-2013) program established under the Rudd Labour
government (Lane et al. in press). The change in the national program has impacted regional
delivery models, with a reduced commitment to the core funding of regional bodies and an
open, competitive tender process established to allocate resources against national priorities.
The uncertainty associated with the transition to the new program is evident in the review of
non-government projects, with most current and proposed projects of uncertain status.
The current suite of projects that the regional NRM bodies are seeking resourcing for
typically relate to pastoral land management, sea country management, weed management,
traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge recording and cultural mapping, and knowledge
and information management systems. Waterways are not commonly the primary focus of
these projects, but comprise an important component of the broader landscape management
objectives. In part, this also reflects the nature of the waterways themselves (ephemeral dry
tropic or massive wet tropic rivers) and the integrated approach to NRM adopted.
3.1.1.
Land and Water Australia Social and Economic Values of Northern
Rivers
Stoeckl et al (2006) describes the social and cultural values of the tropical rivers region
covered the Timor and Gulf Drainage Divisions. The study (a) develops an integrated social
and economic profile of the tropical rivers region, focussing on the collation and reporting of
data relevant to rivers and river management; (b) identifies important social and economic
values and issues relevant to rivers; (c) explains significant processes and pressure points
that will impact on future management of tropical rivers, including conflicting stakeholder
aspirations; (d) scopes future research needs and priorities based on the identification of key
social and economic management questions; and (e) recommends questions and
approaches for further research and development.
A range of existing datasets were reviewed to gather secondary information about ecological,
social and economic characteristics of basins within the tropical rivers region. Sources
included the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Bureau of Meteorology and GeoScience
Australia. This information was organised to enable the comparison of characteristics across
basins. Primary information was collected through three separate focus group discussions in
Mount Isa (Queensland), Derby (Western Australia) and Katherine (Northern Territory) during
the ‘wet season’ of late 2005 and early 2006.
3.1.2.
Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce
The Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce (NALWT) has undertaken some broad
consultations to establish issues for consideration by the Taskforce. The importance of water
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resources, understanding more about water resources, and the water allocation process
were all raised for attention by the Northern Australia Water Futures Assessment. The
findings are contained in the midterm report of the NALWT (2009).
3.1.3.
The nature of northern Australia
The Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, The Wilderness Society, The Myer
Foundation and Charles Darwin University provide a synthesis of research on the natural
values, ecological processes and future prospects for northern Australia. The key output is a
report by Woinarski et al. (2007) that summarises information, including about the natural
values and state of the waterways of northern Australia, and some ways in which the people
of northern Australia interact with the environment.
3.1.4.
Northern Australian Irrigation Futures
CSIRO, the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation and the Cooperative Research
Centre for Irrigation Futures, along with NRM bodies and other community and industry
stakeholders have undertaken research for the Commonwealth, Queensland, Western
Australia and Northern Territory Governments to develop new knowledge, tools and
processes to support debate and decision making about irrigation in northern Australia.
Working across northern Australia through a Steering Committee which included high level
Australian, WA, QLD and NT Government representatives, and focussing on the Ord River
(WA), Daly River (NT) and Lower Burdekin River (QLD) as case studies, the project identified
20 key messages about irrigation in northern Australia.

Research processes which effectively contribute to the integration of science, policy
and stakeholders are valued highly by a wide range of stakeholders

The land and water resources of northern Australia are already being used and
decisions are about redirecting these resources to different uses

Generating localised short term benefits from irrigation is ‘easy’; delivering catchment
scale long term sustainability is the challenge

We need to develop the capacity to view, understand and manage northern Australia
through a ‘northern lens’ which takes account of the national and international context

Groundwater can be critical to base flow and maintenance of ecological function

Water quality is as important as quantity, especially in meeting ecological needs

Irrigated systems are complex systems and we need to accept, understand and
manage that complexity

Water availability and storage needs for irrigation in event-driven tropical systems are
poorly understood

We need to ensure policies and management strategies make sense for event-driven
tropical systems

Irrigation must be preceded by catchment-scale salt and nutrient management plans
to deliver on long-term sustainability objectives

We must set and meet groundwater quantity (level) and quality targets in irrigated
systems and adjust management practices to meet those targets

“Efficiency” is not the answer to everything; the aim is to build and maintain resilience
in irrigated systems

Irrigation and water management is an individual and collective responsibility

There is growing interest in irrigation mosaics as an alternative approach to traditional
large-scale contiguous irrigation systems
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
Irrigation mosaics may have both negative and positive biophysical effects compared
with more traditional systems, with a possible net positive impact

Further research is required on the biophysical, ecological, social and economic
advantages and disadvantages of irrigation mosaics

Dealing with complexity, uncertainty and risk in irrigation decision-making emerges as
a shared need and responsibility for catchment communities, proponents and
governments

Dealing successfully with the complexity of irrigation in northern Australia to achieve
long term ecologically sustainable development will require decision-making and
irrigation management systems that better utilise existing and emerging technologies
and approaches

Implementing frameworks (including catchment knowledge platforms and ESD
component tree systems) which effectively integrate science, policy and stakeholders
will support more comprehensive, transparent and consistent planning and decisionmaking

Above all else, decisions about the future of irrigation in northern Australia are about
people and their relationships with the environment.” (Bristow and Camkin, 2008).
The findings are reported in National Program for Sustainable Irrigation (Bristow and Camkin,
2008) and available at http://www.clw.csiro.au/naif/reports.html.
3.1.5.
Recognition of Indigenous knowledge, rights, interests and values in
river research and management
The effect of the expansion of the “hydrological frontier” on Indigenous societies is examined
briefly by Langton (2002), who has also published papers on the contemporary significance
of water to Indigenous societies (Langton 1996). A number of papers on Indigenous values,
water management institutions and national water policy have been published (Jackson and
Morrison 2007; Jackson 2008; Jackson, Tan et al. 2009). A scoping study of Indigenous
values was prepared for the LWA Tropical Rivers Program in 2005 (Jackson and O’Leary
2006) and a literature review and overview of national water policy was prepared for the
NAILSMA Indigenous Water Policy Group in 2007 (Jackson 2007 ). The project had the
following objectives: a) To determine north Australian Indigenous people’s interests in, and
aspirations for river use, protection and management; b) To inform north Australian
Indigenous representative organisations, and through them, Indigenous communities, about
the Tropical Rivers Program and its research themes; c) To scope out Indigenous people’s
research issues, identify research questions and determine research priorities across
northern Australia and d) To provide LWA with guidance on research ethics and protocols for
researchers collaborating with Indigenous communities in tropical river research.
There are also some research initiatives being undertaken by the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in Darwin. The Traditional Knowledge Initiative
(TKI) was established in 2007 as a pilot research programme on TK, supported by the US
Christensen Fund and the Northern Territory Government of Australia. The purpose of the
TKI is to build greater understanding and facilitate awareness of traditional knowledge to
inform action by Indigenous peoples, local communities and domestic and international
policy makers. Key outputs include research activities, policy studies, capacity development
and online learning and dissemination. The TKI is hosted at Charles Darwin University in
Darwin and relies on collaboration with the co-located North Australian Indigenous Land and
Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA).
One of the focal programs of the TKI is the Traditional Knowledge and Water Management
Programme. The TKI views water management as an issue that highlights differences
between western scientific thought and Indigenous Knowledge systems and has the potential
to illustrate the real life context to which international debates apply. Interests are in exploring
the inter-linkages between global water issues and Indigenous Knowledge systems to
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develop sustainable solutions to pressing water resource challenges. The TK & Water
Programme aims to document these water management solutions and to facilitate their
recognition and inclusion in international policy.
From 7-8 August 2008, a meeting was convened by the TKI titled “Indigenous Water
Knowledge, Indigenous Water Interests: An International Indigenous Expert Exchange on
Issues and Opportunities arising from Emerging Trends in Mainstream Water Management”
held at the site of the Garma Festival in Gulkula, Australia. The concept for this meeting
arose from the discussions of the Indigenous Water Policy Group (IWPG), a regular group
convened through NAILSMA, and supported by the National Water Commission, and the
TKI. The IWPG identified that access to international experience and perspectives on
Indigenous water knowledge and interests would broaden the frame of reference for the
group in such a way that would enhance its capacity to identify and advocate Indigenous
interests in water as well as benefiting participants from across Australia and around the
world.
The purpose of the exchange was to facilitate international collaboration between those with
relevant experience in and expertise of the relationship between Indigenous water
knowledge and Indigenous interests in water. During the exchange, particular attention was
given to issues and opportunities arising from emerging water trading and water property
rights regimes, and the increasing recognition by western science of the value of traditional
knowledge for NRM. The exchange was focused around case studies from various regions of
the world, and featured discussions about how to integrate Traditional Knowledge in
international water policy and global water management. Outputs included a compiled
publication of case studies, as well as a statement and set of recommendations drafted into a
Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, Traditional Knowledge, and Water Resources that was
presented to the World Water Forum in 2009 and other international fora.
3.1.6.
Recreational and Indigenous fishing surveys
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and DCafe consultants undertook the 2000-01
survey for the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Natural Heritage Trust and
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on the economics
and value of recreational fishing throughout Australia. The findings are reported in Campbell
and Murphy (2005). NSW Fisheries and the University of Tasmania undertook the National
Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey for the Fisheries Research and Development
Corporation and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry. The aims of the surveys were to collect statistics on a range of things, including
fishing effort, fisher demographics, fishing expenditure, and attitudes to management issues.
The method involved telephone, diary and on-site surveys. The findings are reported in
Henry and Lyle (2003).
3.1.7.
Indigenous connections between fresh and saltwater environments
The North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance, Northern Land
Council, Carpentaria Land Council and Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation
undertook research for the National Oceans Office to review the literature on Aboriginal
rights, use, management and interests in northern Australian marine environments. The
research was undertaken through desktop literature reviews. The findings are reported in
National Oceans Office (2004) and include the connections Indigenous people have with
inter-tidal estuaries and the intimate connections between fresh and saltwater ecosystems
held by coastal Indigenous cosmologies.
3.1.8.
Indigenous socio-economic values and river flows
CSIRO is undertaking work under the TRACK program to better understand the Indigenous
socio-economic values relating to water and river flows. The project commenced in 2008 and
will run until late 2010. Indigenous values associated with rivers are poorly understood by
decision-makers, and some are difficult to relate explicitly to particular flow regimes, quantify
or articulate in allocation decisions (Jackson 2008). The project will record Indigenous socioCultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
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cultural knowledge relating to water and quantify the economic benefit to Indigenous people
from water-dependent resource use in two TRACK focal catchments – the Daly (NT) and the
Fitzroy (WA). It will assess the impacts of altered flow regimes on patterns of Indigenous
resource use and recommend ways of maintaining valued patterns and relationships to
riverine systems. Development of a participatory monitoring program, in connection with
TRACK environmental flows research, will develop indicators to monitor outcomes for water
management plans (see www.terc.csiro.au).
3.1.9.
The value of tropical river ecosystem services
CSIRO and Charles Darwin University are undertaking research for the Tropical Rivers and
Coastal Knowledge research program, Land & Water Australia and the Myer Foundation on
the economic value of tropical river ecosystem services for the Fitzroy, Daly and Mitchell
Rivers. The aims are to identify and document ecosystem services, assess economic value
using a valuation instrument, and analyse how this value has changed through time given
other social, economic and ecological events to assist in assessing development scenarios.
The methods are desktop review and analysis, and a valuation survey (mail-out and face-toface). This work is currently underway and a final report is due in August 2009.
3.1.10. A cultural and conservation economy for Northern Australia
CSIRO, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Community Sector Innovation, the
Kimberley Land Council, the Poola Foundation, James Cook University and the Centre for
Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University undertook proofof-concept research for Land & Water Australia on the possibility of a conservation economy
in northern Australia based on the natural and cultural values of the region, including water
places and activities relating to water management. The study involved desktop reviews and
stakeholder consultation. Some key findings relate to the capacity of Indigenous people to
engage with this model and its appropriateness for Indigenous aspirations. The full set of
findings are reported in Hill et al. (2007).
3.1.11. Securing the North
In 2004, the Australian Tropical Rivers Group was convened by the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) and released a statement called ‘Securing the North: Australia’s Tropical Rivers’.
This statement refers to Australia’s tropical rivers as ‘the most biologically diverse and
healthy aquatic ecosystems in Australia today’ (Australian Tropical Rivers Group 2004, p.2,
http://wwf.org.au/publications/securing_the_north/), and highlights the role of the natural
flows of these rivers in maintaining the habitats, biodiversity and productivity of river and
marine ecosystems. The ecosystems provide many sources of food and items of cultural
significance to Indigenous communities and ‘support over 100 species of freshwater fish and
millions of waterbirds that feed in wetlands and estuaries’ (Australian Tropical Rivers Group
2004, p.2). The statement also points out that ‘significant recreational and commercial
fisheries depend on rivers…they are worth tens of millions of dollars annually. Tourism based
on rivers…earns hundreds of millions of dollars each year’ (Australian Tropical Rivers Group
2004, p.3).
3.1.12. Defending the Environment
The Australian Defence Force collects and monitors information from an area that is remote,
often inaccessible and sparsely populated in order to provide intelligence required to
maintain national security. Regional Surveillance Force Units (RSFU) are crucial to this task,
with three specialised units responsible for patrolling northern Australia. The unit for northern
Australia, NORFORCE, conducts patrols that are often focused in key strategic locations
such as ports, airfields and rivers. Today over 60% of Norforce is comprised of Indigenous
people, and approximately 50% of all RSFU soldiers are Indigenous. Security values for
Northern Rivers include illegal access issues as well as protecting Australia from bio-security
threats imported by illegal pest plants and animals (Bush and Robinson 2006).
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3.1.13. Healthy planning for Northern Australia’s natural resources
The Tropical Savannas CRC funded CSIRO to monitor and evaluate regional planning
arrangements for NRM across Northern Australia’s savanna regions (e.g. Taylor et al 2006;
see http://savanna.cdu.edu.au/research/projects/healthy_savanna.html). This work drew on
three years of repeated interviews and surveys with key informants, reviews of regional plans
and investment strategies, and the analysis of the policy and NHT2 program context. Some
of the key social and institutional issues affecting NRM across Northern Australia, including
water, were identified. These include the degree to which stakeholders identified with the
unique and diverse NRM issues in each region, the extent to which regional stakeholders
recognised and supported collaborative decision-making and management, the extent to
which governance structures and processes supported integrated and adaptive regional
NRM efforts, the efficacy of structures and processes to integrate different types of
information, knowledge and values to inform planning objectives and priorities, and
perspectives on social, institutional and biophysical outcomes being delivered through
regional planning approaches.
3.2. Water reform in Australia
Building on the Council of Australian Government (CoAG) Water Reform Agreement of 1994,
the Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative was signed at the 25 June
2004 CoAG meeting. The Tasmanian Government joined the Agreement in June 2005 and
the Western Australia Government joined in April 2006. The NWI represents a shared
commitment by governments to increase the efficiency of Australia's water use, leading to
greater certainty for investment and productivity, for rural and urban communities, and for the
environment.
The overall objective of the NWI is to achieve a nationally compatible market, regulatory and
planning based system of managing surface and groundwater resources for rural and urban
use that optimises economic, social and environmental outcomes. Through it, each
Government has agreed on actions to achieve a more cohesive national approach to the way
Australia manages, measures, plans for, prices, and trades water.
The NWI agreement includes objectives, outcomes and agreed actions to be undertaken by
governments across eight inter-related elements of water management.

Water access entitlements and planning framework

Water markets and trading

Best practice water pricing

Integrated management of water for the environment

Water resource accounting

Urban water reform

Knowledge and capacity building

Community partnerships and adjustment

Progress in implementing the National Water Initiative is assessed against these key
elements.
Western Australian, Northern Territory and Queensland are all signatories to the NWI. Each
has prepared an NWI implementation plan which has been accredited by the National Water
Commission. Water reforms in each State and Territory are now aligned to delivering on
these commitments (National Water Commission website. 3 June 2009).
3.3. Indigenous Water Issues and National Water Reform
The TRACK research initiative has funded Tan (2008) to review native title interests and
implications in relation to water decision-making and management that includes exploring the
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spiritual, customary economy and environmental management dimensions of cultural water
flows. The significance of Indigenous interests in water, together with the extent of native title
interests and Aboriginal land that exists in Northern Australia, highlights the need for
meaningful Indigenous participation in collaborative water planning efforts.
The dialogue surrounding Indigenous cultural water flows in the Murray Darling Basin is
insightful for the Northern Australian experience. Minister Ian Cohen (2004) recently reflected
in the NSW Legislative Assembly that Indigenous cultural flows are fundamental rights for the
provision of sustainable lifestyles by Indigenous communities. As he noted, ‘access to
cultural water for traditional owners enhances self-determination, enabling nations to
implement their own NRM regimes’.
Such developments in Australia echo experiences in New Zealand and North America where
water planning decisions have started to seriously incorporate the legal, livelihood, cultural
and economic dimensions of ‘cultural flows’ in relation to the incorporation of Indigenous
values (e.g. Craig 2006), and governance structures and processes are moving towards
more equitable Indigenous participation in water resource allocation and management
decisions. Jackson (2009) recently reported to the National Indigenous Water Forum in
March 2009 that there were ten key issues that water planning and management
arrangements in Australia still need to address for meaningful Indigenous participation in
water planning issues:

Planning processes tend to rely on Indigenous representatives on advisory
committees as the only form of Indigenous engagement and input to assessments
and allocation decisions.

In many jurisdictions, water plans implicitly assume that environmental flows will meet
Indigenous social, cultural or spiritual requirements. In these cases these ‘non
consumptive’ uses, or instream values, are protected by limits on water extraction,
rather than by an entitlement. Traditional owner groups are challenging the exclusive
focus given to ecological criteria in determining these flows.

A number of native title determinations have recognised limited, non-exclusive rights
to land and waters within claim boundaries. These decisions protect the native title
holders’ rights to take water for drinking and domestic purposes and to exercise rights
to fish, hunt and pursue cultural activities without a licence. In these cases,
jurisdictions have processes for consulting with native title holders over water licence
applications.

The NWI requires that water plans take account of the possibility of native title.
Jurisdictions appear to be waiting for native title claims to be proven in the courts or
resolved by negotiation before addressing the likely water requirements.

There are a few instances where attempts have been made to quantify a volume of
water to meet potential native title requirements. The basis for determining the
allocation differs markedly in each instance, highlighting the need for further
consideration of transparent, robust and equitable mechanisms for specifying water
requirements and making allocations.

Only Queensland and NSW legislation provides for an Indigenous share in an
allocation process, for either cultural, social or economic purposes. The current
mechanisms for specific purpose water licences (NSW) and Indigenous reservations
(Queensland) do not appear to be popular with Indigenous groups, although in the
latter case, the reservations have only recently been introduced or proposed.

It is difficult to obtain a reliable account of Indigenous-specific water allocations, their
volumes and conditions of use. Despite the requirement of the NWI to account for any
water allocated to native title holders, the current accounting framework does not
identify such allocations or users.

NWI reporting needs to be improved, it is currently too general for thorough and
independent evaluation of implementation. No jurisdiction has yet developed
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performance indicators to evaluate implementation of the Indigenous access
outcomes.

Some jurisdictions are showing interest in adapting water resource management
legislation and policy to provide for water from the consumptive pool for the economic
benefit of Indigenous people (see
http://waterplanning.org.au/presentations/indigenous-participation-in-water-planningand-access-to-water).
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4. REGIONS IN TIMOR SEA DRAINAGE DIVISION
This chapter describes projects and activities occurring in the Fitzroy, Kimberley and OrdBonaparte regions of the Timor Sea Drainage Division (see Figure 2). Note that some of the
research and project activities in this Drainage Division have been described in Chapter 2.
Some attention has been given to social and cultural values associated with water in the
Fitzroy River region in response to proposals to dam the Fitzroy River and utilise both
surface and groundwater for irrigated agriculture. A review of stakeholder views on water
allocation planning (Beckwith & Associates 1999) noted that stakeholders wished to see
regional water allocation plans that would identify valuable attributes of the region that might
be affected negatively or positively by water allocation decisions.
Beckwith and Associates (1999) and Stoeckl et al (2006) document local stakeholder
concerns about regulation of the Fitzroy River or its tributaries. These include: potential
impacts on local fish stocks, fish passage and migration; damage to the riverine environment;
loss of places of cultural significance due to inundation; and the loss of areas with high ecotourism potential (e.g.Diamond Gorge). The limited scientific understanding of the Fitzroy
River Valley has been highlighted as a key issue of concern by a number of stakeholders.
Workshops held by Stoeckl et al (2006, 20) also highlighted the international and national
importance of floodplain wetlands, the reliance of flora and fauna (including endangered)
species on the dynamic flooding regimes that occur in this ecosystem, and the relationship
between flooding in the Fitzroy River and the recharge of groundwater systems in the region
(eg. Fitzroy Valley aquifers, Derby town water supply).
As part of the on-going national ‘Wild Rivers Project’, the Water and Rivers Commission has
identified those rivers in Western Australia that remain in a ‘pristine’ or ‘near pristine’
condition. Of the 26 rivers in the State considered ‘wild’, 17 of them are located in the
Kimberley Region (ie. the Timor Sea Drainage Division). Most of the identified wild rivers
are located in the remote and inaccessible north-west coastal region. The need to assess
and protect the Indigenous cultural values of the area was highlighted in consultations
reported in Beckwith & Associates (1999). Of particular concern were those values
associated with water resources such as seasonal water holes and soaks. The important role
of groundwater as a life force in the spiritual beliefs of the local community was also raised.
More recently, Toussaint et al (2005) described the many different sources of and meanings
associated with water amongst the Indigenous societies of the Fitzroy Valley. Yu (2006, 149)
observes that proposed mechanisms to impound (i.e. dam) and regulate the river flows
would have an enormous, largely negative impact on the cultural and ecological values of the
river system.
Stoeckl et al (2006) found evidence of conflict over perceptions of abundance and inter-basin
transfer to meet southern Australia’s growing water demand in their focus group interviews in
Derby in 2006. Drought proofing schemes for Perth and Adelaide have investigated the
transfer of large volumes of water from the Kimberley region to meet urban water demands.
Respondents at the Derby focus group challenged the perception that tropical water is being
wasted when it flows to the sea, arguing that it is being used by the river systems and serves
the needs of the local population.
Indigenous values of the Ord River in the Ord-Bonaparte region and wetlands were
documented for the Water and Rivers Commission and in a workshop on Indigenous values
of water convened by CSIRO in 2006 (Barber and Rumley 2003; Jackson and Langton
2006). Barber and Rumley (2003) describe the changes experienced since the damming of
the Ord River and the introduction of irrigated agriculture. They both note the impacts such
changes have had on Indigenous communities, particularly the effect of regulated stream
flow on vegetation and patterns of access and resource use and the increased flows in the
lower Ord. Recently Hill, Peoples, Hill and Goodson (2008) have incorporated MiriuwungGajerrong values into a cultural planning framework for conservation areas. This work
outlines visions and strategies for recognising Indigenous water values in conservation parks
and nature reserves.
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A study by the Kimberley Land Council has further analysed the social and economic
impacts of the Ord irrigation scheme on the social and economic life of Indigenous people in
the region and on their values and use of water resources. These changes, as well as
continuities with past spatial practices, are also addressed by Lane (2003), who contrasts the
Indigenous and non-Indigenous land use practices in the Ord region (Lane 2003; Lane
2004). Indigenous economic, social and cultural reliance on waterholes and water places is
evident in these reports and publications.
The cultural and political significance of the Ord River system to the non-Indigenous
community, resident and non-resident, has been analysed by a small number of social
researchers during the past fifteen years (Arthur 1997; Head 1999; Lane 2003; Lane 2004).
The damming of the Ord and the utilisation of water for agriculture are seen by many
interviewed in these studies as very positive, resulting in improvements to productivity and
regional wealth (Lane 2003). The wetlands of international significance downstream of the
Ord diversion dam are now considered an environmental asset worthy of an environmental
flow.
The Ord River Water Management Plan (2006) has a very brief section on social values
referring to the significant recreational and tourism use of the lower Ord and the ‘strong
sense of community identity with the river’. Social values were identified through a
community reference panel workshop where participants confirmed that a wide range of
social and cultural values should be considered in water allocation decisions.
4.1. Research initiatives and existing projects
4.1.1.
Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP)
The TRIAP was undertaken by the Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising
Scientist (ERISS) of the Supervising Scientist Division of DEWHA and James Cook
University, with contributions from The University of Western Australia and Charles Darwin
University. The project’s aim was to undertake an inventory of ecological assets, pressures
and threats for Australia’s tropical rivers as an integrated information base for the
assessment of current status and future change. The project consisted of three sub-projects,
the second of which is relevant to this review for the Fitzroy River.
Sub-project 2 of TRIAP assesses the major pressures on aquatic ecosystems for all of
Australia’s tropical rivers and, in more detail, for the Fitzroy River in Western Australia, the
Daly River in the Northern Territory and the Flinders River in Queensland (Bartolo et al.
2008). The methods used include the analysis of existing information and consultation with
stakeholders and experts. The consultations with stakeholders included discussion of the key
values associated with ecological and socio-cultural assets, where assets are defined as the
attributes of natural ecosystems “that the community values and wants to see protected”
(Bartolo et al. 2008).
The key findings include identification of the following aquatic ecological assets: waterways;
wetlands; riparian vegetation; groundwater dependent ecosystems; biodiversity; and rare,
threatened and listed communities and species (Bartolo et al. 2008). The key pressures are:
horticulture, pastoralism, crop production, urban development, tourism/recreation, mining and
climate change (Bartolo et al. 2008). The key threats are: groundwater extraction, surface
water extraction, water impoundment, land clearance/loss of native vegetation cover,
invasive flora, invasive fauna, altered fire regime and contamination (Bartolo et al. 2008). The
key values associated with the ecological assets of the Fitzroy River identified through
literature reviews include: habitat for fish, freshwater discharge, water quality, wildlife
nurseries and habitat, erosion control/sediment retention, water regulation, and endemism
(Bartolo et al. 2008). The key findings of a stakeholder workshop in Derby are reported in
Bartolo (2006).
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4.1.2.
Biology and cultural significance of the freshwater sawfish (Pristis
microdon) in the Fitzroy River, Kimberley, Western Australia
The Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research at Murdoch University, the Kimberley Language
Resource Centre and the Kimberley Land Council undertook a project to document the
biology and cultural significance of the freshwater sawfish in King Sound and the Fitzroy,
Mary and Robinson Rivers. Researchers worked with local Aboriginal people in capturing,
measuring and recording biological characteristics of a sample of sawfish, and documenting
the cultural significance of the species by recording the stories and beliefs recounted during
field trip conversations. The findings of the cultural study are reported in Chapter 2 of
Thorburn et al. (2004). A previous related study by the same collaborators identified the fish
fauna of the Fitzroy River and their Aboriginal names, documenting the associated cultural
values and the importance of fishing to local Aboriginal people (Morgan et al. 2002).
4.1.3.
Current and future demand for irrigation water in Western Australia
The Department of Agriculture and Food of the Government of Western Australia undertook
a review and economic analysis of the current use of water for irrigation and the potential
future demand. The report documents the areas planted to different crops and calculates the
value of water for different crops and future demand for the whole of Western Australia,
including the west and east Kimberley regions. The findings are reported in Brennan (2006).
4.1.4.
Fitzroy River system: environmental values
The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University undertook research for the
Water and Rivers Commission on the environmental values of the Fitzroy River system. This
project aimed to document the ecological and eco-cultural values of the Fitzroy River and
identify some potential impacts of regulation of the river. The methods included field and
desktop assessments. The project was undertaken with Traditional Owners of the area and
in conjunction with a parallel study to assess the cultural values of the river and its tributaries
(Toussaint et al. 2001). The findings are reported in Storey et al. (2001)
4.1.5.
Fitzroy Valley Indigenous cultural values study (a preliminary
assessment)
The University of Western Australia, the Kimberley Land Council and Traditional Owners of
the Fitzroy area undertook research for the Water and Rivers Commission on the Indigenous
cultural values associated with the Fitzroy Valley. The aims of the project were to provide a
cultural interpretation of the relationship of a number of Fitzroy Valley communities to rivers
and other water sources. The methods included participant observation and open-ended
ethnographic interviews. The researchers took notes, photographs and taped song cycles.
The report documents the conceptualisation of rivers and water sources within the cultural
framework of religious beliefs, practices and laws; the cultural responsibilities of Indigenous
people for water; the centrality of water and riverine resources to all economic, social and
cultural activity; and the importance of fishing and river resources as nutrition and medicine
(Toussaint et al. 2001).
4.1.6.
Irrigation review final report
The Irrigation Review Steering Committee prepared a report for the Government of Western
Australia as part of the State Water Strategy on the status, opportunities and constraints
relating to irrigation in Western Australia. The review aimed to establish the amount of water
used for irrigation, the economic and social benefits of this use, and the potential future use,
including with improved water delivery and use efficiency. There are some sections on
irrigation in the Kimberley region. The findings are reported in Irrigation Review Steering
Committee (2005).
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4.1.7.
Kimberley water allocation planning: overview of stakeholder issues
Beckwith and Associates consultants undertook an assessment of stakeholders’ issues
around the development of a water allocation plan for the region and its sub-regions for the
Water and Rivers Commission. The aims of the research were to identify issues to be
addressed in the water allocation process and come up with some means for further
community involvement. The project involved semi-structured interviews with stakeholders.
The key output is a report documenting the issues raised for the Kimberley, La Grange
groundwater, Fitzroy River and Ord River regions (Beckwith and Associates 1999).
4.1.8.
Ngapa Kunangkul: living water – report on the Aboriginal cultural
values of groundwater in the La Grange sub-basin
The University of Western Australia undertook research with Traditional Owners and the
Kimberley Land Council on the cultural values of groundwater in the La Grange sub-basin for
the Water and Rivers Commission. The aims of the research were to identify and document
these values, to assess their significance, to identify registered Aboriginal heritage sites and
to recommend how to avoid negative impacts on these values. The methods used included
field trips with Aboriginal people and other scientists where possible to record discussions
and document sites and species. The findings are reported by Yu (1999; 2003). This work
was conducted prior to water allocation decisions associated with a major irrigation proposal
to grow cotton. The results have informed the development of the draft La Grange Water
Allocation Plan (WA Department of Water 2008). The NAILSMA Indigenous Water Policy
Group, Karajarri traditional owners, and the WA Department of Water are developing a
research project to investigate the feasibility of an Indigenous commercial allocation in the La
Grange Basin. This work should commence in 2009 and is to be funded by the National
Water Commission.
4.1.9.
Assessing the potential for sustainable cotton production in the
Kimberley
The Western Australian Department of Agriculture and the CSIRO Cotton Research Unit
undertook research on the potential for sustainable cotton production in the Kimberley. The
aims of the project were to establish the possibilities and challenges of growing cotton
extensively on a sustainable basis in the region. The methods included desktop reviews and
field trips. The report mentions the economic potential and the lack of irrigation infrastructure
in the west Kimberley (Strickland et al. 1993).
4.1.10. Kimberley water ways
The University of Western Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Studies conducted an interconnected analysis of Aboriginal relationships to
water in northern Australia, particularly for the Fitzroy River. The aims of the work were to
highlight interconnections between humans and habitat, specifically water, and to show how
media can help Aboriginal people express their relationships. The methods were primarily
ethnographic and desktop-based. The findings are reported in Toussaint et al. (2005).
The University of Western Australia has also undertaken research with Kachana Pastoral
Station to document the benefits of alternative modes of production in northern Western
Australia, particularly for the waterways of the region. The main output is a paper (Storey and
Toussaint 2007), which discusses the values of the Kimberley environment and water
sources and the history and effect of pastoralism in the region. The paper introduces the
alternative production techniques and management practices undertaken at Kachana
Pastoral Station and discusses the positive impact on the health of Kimberley waterways.
4.1.11. Options for bringing water to Perth from the Kimberley
The Kimberley Water Supply Panel undertook a review of options for bringing water to Perth
from the Kimberley for the Government of Western Australia. The methods included
community and expert consultation and technical and economic analyses of three water
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
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delivery options. The report describes the issues with sourcing water from the Fitzroy and
Ord Rivers, the economic costs of each option and the environmental and social issues
arising for each option. The findings are reported in Western Australia Department of the
Premier and Cabinet (2006).
4.1.12. Wetlands of the north-western Great Sandy Desert in the La Grange
hydrological sub-basin
The V & C Semeniuk Research Group consultants undertook research with local Traditional
Owners for the Water and Rivers Commission to identify wetlands in the northwestern Great
Sandy Desert and their values. The methods included desk and field studies. The study
found that there are a variety of wetland types in the region and that “many of them are
significant in terms of biota and geo heritage values” (V & C Semeniuk Research Group
2000).
4.1.13. Establishing priorities for wetland conservation and management in the
Kimberley
WWF-Australia and the Rangelands NRM Coordinating Group undertook research for the
Natural Heritage Trust to collate knowledge of wetlands across the Kimberley region and
document their uses, threats, cultural and biological values. Methods included desktop and
field research and community consultation. The findings are reported in Vernes (2007).
4.1.14. Effective approaches for environmental and wastewater management
and training: the Birdwood Downs case studies in the Kimberley region
of Western Australia
The Institute of Ecotechnics and Birdwood Downs Company have been undertaking research
on land regeneration and management, developing sustainable enterprises and wastewater
management and recycling on Birdwood Downs since 1978. The methods include desktop
research and hands-on development and testing of new technologies and practices. The
activities and findings are documented in Tredwell and Nelson (2006), which includes
discussion of the conservation and recycling of wastewater through new technology and
wastewater gardens.
4.1.15. The impact of tourism on the Gibb River Road
Yuco Pty Ltd consultants undertook research for the Tropical Savannas CRC and the
Kimberley Land Council on the impact of tourism on the Gibb River Road. The project aimed
to assess community involvement in and opinion of tourism in the region. The methods
included desktop studies and semi-structured interviews. Given that many places that
tourists visit are associated with water, the researchers included questions about the impact
of tourism on the local environment. Key findings relating to water include that there is often
a lack of water infrastructure at key camping sites, that several key places have been closed
to tourists due to a lack of management capacity, and that tourists can have unintended
impacts on important water places. The findings are reported in Yuco Pty Ltd (2003).
4.1.16. Independent travellers in the north Kimberley: benefits, impacts and
management challenges
CSIRO undertook research for the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre on the
benefits, impacts and management challenges associated with independent travellers in the
north Kimberley. The project used a desktop analysis of information about tourism in the
Kimberley and a survey of independent travellers. The key finding relating to water is the
importance of gorges and waterfalls to visitors (Greiner et al. 2005).
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4.1.17. The Kimberley Aquaculture Aboriginal Corporation (KAAC): Manbana
Hatchery and Discovery Centre
The Northern Territory University has undertaken research with local Aboriginal people on
the development of hatchery techniques for an aquaculture industry in the Kimberley
(Clements and Lee 2003).
4.1.18. Ord River social research
The University of Wollongong undertook research on the differences between Ord Stages
One and Two in terms of the “attitudes to, and conceptualisations of, nature and the human
place in it” (Head 1999). The aims of the research were to look at the social and economic
changes that have taken place between the two stages and analyse the different ways in
which the stages were undertaken and what this reveals about the consideration of
Aboriginal and environmental issues. The findings are reported in Head (1999). Doctoral
research on farmer and Indigenous landscape attitudes was also undertaken by Ruth Lane
(Lane 2003; Lane 2004) who also conducted research on mobility in this region. One
publication addresses attachment to place by irrigators (Lane 2004).
4.1.19. Ord Bonaparte integrated research program
In 2000, Land & Water Australia, government agencies and other research providers
(CSIRO, AIMS) developed a multi-disciplinary integrated research program to address
sustainability issues in the catchment. The program comprised 5 subprograms defined
broadly along the lines of resources, including one program titled Water Resources. A
component of the program worked with Indigenous communities under the auspices of the
Kimberley Land Council to identify Indigenous land management aspirations (Pursche 2004).
Various publications were generated e.g. (Greiner and Johnson 2000). A lack of resources
terminated the program midterm in 2003.
4.1.20. Allocating for the future of the Lower Ord River
The University of Western Australia synthesised the findings of several research projects on
the Ord River system. The aims of the synthesis were to describe the process for
determining an environmental water provision, including documenting the history of the
development of the Ord River and the ecological and socio-cultural values both past and
present; and provide some estimation of the water required to maintain ecological and sociocultural values. The findings are reported in Storey and Trayler (2006).
4.2. Water legislation and planning
4.2.1.
Ministerial and Departmental Responsibility
In Western Australia, water management responsibility rests with various state and local
organisations (Figure 3). The WA Minister for Water Resources is responsible for the
conservation, protection and management of water resources through the Department of
Water, which assumed the functions and role of the Water and Rivers Commission in 2006.
Significant work to reform the way WA plans for and manages water is being coordinated
through the Department of Water. This reform addresses the requirements of the
Government Response to the 2005 Final Report of the Irrigation Review Steering Committee
and its commitment to the National Water Initiative.
The State Water Resource Management and Reform Program includes: (i) an overview of
water resources availability and use; (ii) establishing strategic water policy and planning
frameworks; and (iii) implementing more than 100 priority actions to progress water
resources management in WA by 2011. Significant initiatives include:

The preparation of a State Water Plan and Regional Water Plans

Supporting the work of the Water Reform Implementation Committee
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
Addressing the requirements of the National Water Initiative and

Modernising and streamlining water legislation (WA Department of Water website. 3
June 2009).
Figure 3: Responsibilities for water management in Western Australia. Source: National Water
Commission website. 3 June 2009.
4.2.2.
Water Legislation
The Rights in Water and Irrigation (RIWI) Act 1914 provides the statutory basis for planning
and allocation of water in Western Australia. The objectives of the legislation include
providing for the management, sustainable use and development of water resources to meet
the needs of current and future users, and for the protection of their ecosystems and the
environment in which water resources are situated.
The new Water Resources portfolio and the establishment of the Department of Water as the
lead portfolio agency have provided a focus for the sustainable management of water within
the State. The first phase of the reform process involves legislative changes necessary to
support these administrative and institutional reforms. To this end, the Water Resources
Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 was introduced into Parliament on 17 May 2006. The
second phase of reform will consist of more wide-ranging legislative reform to modernise and
consolidate water resource management legislation and water services legislation. It is
intended that the RIWI Act will be repealed and replaced by new legislation to implement the
new water policy and water planning frameworks. The legislative reform program aims to
consolidate 11 Acts (including the RIWI Act) into two Bills: the Water Services Bill; and the
Water Resources Management Bill.
4.2.3.
WA Water Policy and Planning Framework
The State Water Plan 2007 provides a strategic framework to plan and manage Western
Australia's water resources. It sets out broad state-wide strategic directions and policies, a
framework for water planning and specific priority actions to be implemented over the next
three to five years by 11 government agencies with the Department of Water taking the
leading role. The plan includes an overview of water availability and use in Western
Australia, current and projected trends in water demand and options available to meet these
demands.
State water planning and policy frameworks are defined under the State Water Plan 2007.
The state water policy framework guides water resource management in Western Australia
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and the state water planning framework outlines the various water plans that are the primary
responsibility of the Department of Water (as described in the State Water Plan).
WA Water Policy Framework
The state water policy framework is defined in the State Water Plan. The Water Policy
Framework guides water resource management in WA. The framework:

Provides strategic rationale for detailed policies, action plans and strategies.

Outlines key concepts to implement Government decisions on the Water Reform
program.

Facilitates the implementation of the National Water Initiative in a manner appropriate
for WA.

Ensures water plans address issues in the context of shared whole of State
objectives.

Ensures consistency of approach to water policy over time.

Builds a shared understanding of water resource management principles.
The Water Policy Framework has seven objectives to support the vision for water resource
management. The objectives build on the foundations of the State Water Strategy and the
National Water Initiative to improve water resource security and certainty for users, the
community and the environment. The objectives reinforce each other. They work together to
support water for ecosystems, recreational and cultural use, its vital role in developing our
economy and the provision of safe, quality water services for healthy communities.
Figure 4: Western Australia’s water policy framework. Source: WA Department of Water website. 3
June 2009.
WA Water Planning Framework
The WA Water Planning Framework is a core element of the WA Water Resource
Management and Reform Program providing the basis for the ongoing development of
strategic and statutory water plans administered by the Department of Water. The
framework, which includes plans for statutory water management; source protection;
drainage and floodplain management, describes the desired outcomes to be achieved
through each plan, lists plan objectives, geographical area, priorities and issues to be further
considered (Figure 5).
Integrated water management is a goal of strategic water management in Western Australia.
Where possible, planning will be integrated to address the sustainability of the resource, use,
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protect catchments and drinking water sources and manage other impacts. It is important
that water plans integrate with land use planning in a manner that avoids duplication and
unnecessary delays in decision making.
Figure 5: The WA Water Planning Framework. Source: Department of Water website. 3 June 2009.
WA State Water Plan
The State Water Plan establishes broad water management objectives for Western Australia.
These consider times of water resource abundance and scarcity, recognising the impact of
expected climate variation. The objectives for the strategic management of water resources
are of relevance to the community and all water users. It provides a framework for the
community, water users and other stakeholders to understand, engage and assess progress
towards the strategic management of water in Western Australia. The State Water Plan
includes:

An overview of water resources availability and use.

Water policy and planning frameworks.

More than 100 priority actions to progress water resources management in Western
Australia by 2011.
Other plans in the Water Planning Framework need to be consistent with the State Water
Plan.
Strategic Regional Water Plans
Regional water plans are developed by the Department of Water and are strategic in nature
with a long-term planning horizon that aligns with the State Water Plan. They assess the
current state of water resource management and service delivery in the region, identify
current and forecast future water availability and demand and set priority actions to support
water policy and planning implementation, improved water resource management and
establishment of water management plans. They take account of other water policies and
plans such as regional NRM strategies. Nine regional plans are proposed for the state. There
is no regional plan in place for the Kimberley as yet.
Strategic Water Issue Plans
Strategic water issue plans address matters that cannot be dealt with through other plans in
the water planning framework or provide guidance on an urgent strategic issue. This flexible
planning tool enables relevant government agencies to work together with the community.
Examples of water planning matters that strategic water issue plans may address include
drought response initiatives to address affected areas and specific source development
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options for a town, sector or region. An example of a strategic water issue plan is the
Western Australia Rural Water Plan, released in 2000. This plan was developed in response
to the need to improve reliability of access to water supplies in agricultural and pastoral areas
of the state. The plan incorporates several water supply initiatives to improve on-farm,
pastoral and community water supplies. Over time, strategic water issue plans should
integrate with other strategic and water management plans.
The strategic direction provided by the State Water Plan, Regional Water Plan and Strategic
Issue Water Plans are supported by detailed management plans of various types to protect
and share water resources and manage land-use changes. These include allocating water
sustainably, protecting drinking water sources, preserving waterways, and managing
drainage and floodplains. Statutory Water Management Plans will communicate decisions
that have legal obligations and can be enforced. They will be prescriptive to facilitate
certainty. Following are categories of Water Management Plans in the Water Planning
Framework.
Water Allocation Plans
The Department of Water prepares water allocation plans to determine how much
groundwater and surface water can be taken for domestic or commercial purposes while
leaving enough water in the environment to meet ecological, recreational and cultural needs.
Water licenses are the statutory instrument used to regulate individual take and use. Water
allocation plans provide the management framework and rules for licensing. At present water
allocation plans are not statutory, but this is being addressed through the legislative reform
program and the drafting of a Water Resources Management Bill. A number of water
allocation plans have already been developed, or are underway, across the state. These
include the Ord River Water Management Plan (published December 2006) and the draft La
Grange Groundwater Sub Area Water Management Plan (released in December 2008 for
comment).
Drinking Water Source Protection Plans
Drinking water source protection plans are developed by the Department of Water to protect
water catchments and groundwater aquifers to minimise the risk of drinking-water
contamination. They recommend protection strategies, such as the establishment of
reservoir protection zones. Water source protection plans and water reserve protection plans
are in place across the Kimberley, including for Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls
Creek and Kununurra town water supplies.
Drainage Plans
Drainage plans are produced by the Department of Water. They identify the natural
movement of water across landscapes and mechanisms to improve the environment, land
planning and the capacity of communities to implement best-management practices.
Waterways Plans
Waterways plans are prepared by the Department of Water to identify the condition and
threats to waterways and develop strategies to protect, restore and manage waterways.
These plans may incorporate key issues that need to be resolved at a catchment scale.
Floodplain Plans
Floodplain plans recommend approaches for the protection of people and property within
flood-affected areas to minimise flood damage. They are prepared by the Department of
Water.
Source: National Water Commission website. Accessed 3 June 2009.
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5. NORTHERN TERRITORY REGIONS IN GULF OF CARPENTARIA
This chapter summarises key research initiatives and projects that are occurring in the Daly,
Van Dieman and Arafura regions (see Figure 2). Note that some of the research and project
activities in these regions have been described in Chapter 2.
In a study of Indigenous water values in the Daly region Jackson (2005) observed the
difficulty of incorporating the less tangible and measurable social values into contemporary
water management that is driven by quantified objectives. Water-related ecological
objectives need to be quantitatively defined in order to be integrated with other water
management objectives. As Jackson (2005) explains, this requirement to quantify water
volumes and values for the purposes of sharing water amongst various users raises
difficulties for Aboriginal people, and for others seeking to protect those values for which it is
difficult to quantify a volumetric allocation.
Kennedy (2004, p 2) reports on the aesthetic and environmental significance of the Daly’s
dry season flow volume in providing habitat for a wide array of wildlife, noting that the river
supports the “largest unbroken patch of rainforest in north-western Australia’. In their 2005
study, Blanch, Rea and Scott (2005) note the importance of the Daly’s hydrological and
biophysical characteristics in contributing to the condition and extent of wetlands in the
region.
The Daly region comprises land tenures associated with the most intensive current and
future water usage in the NT’s Top End. These include residential, industrial, commercial
horticultural, farming and pastoral uses. The region also relies economically on tourism
focused on Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge) and other permanent waters of the
spring-fed Katherine/Daly River system, including Edith Falls and the Flora River Nature
Reserve. Cooper and Jackson (2008) undertook a study of the cultural significance of the
groundwater resources of the Tindal aquifer. The study finds that the underground waters are
a significant feature in Aboriginal knowledge and note that this has been largely unaddressed
in water management and planning processes.
Local, national and international values for wetland and riparian ecosystems in the Van
Diemen region are documented in management plans of Kakadu National Park, Litchfield
Nature Park and Darwin Harbour. Many of the social and cultural values associated with the
Howard River region of Darwin’s rural hinterland have also been documented by Woodward
et al (2008). This report shows that demand for water by Darwin residents has increased
significantly in this area, as has competition for groundwater to supply residential and
agricultural developments. The catchment supports a diversity of land uses including
residential, horticultural, pastoral, conservation and mining. Questions have been raised
about the effect of groundwater extraction on the catchment’s vegetation, particularly
vulnerable and valuable rainforest patches. A number of recent water management issues in
the region have focussed public attention on the health of the area’s waterways and on the
sustainability of water resource use. This includes the water management problem that led to
the closure of the popular swimming hole at Howard Springs in 2004 due to low flows and
poor water quality.
In the Arafura region, water governance on the Indigenous estates surrounding the
Maningrida area were studied by Altman and Branchout (2008) in a series of case studies
prepared for the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance’s
Indigenous Water Policy Group. Water resource assessments of West and East Arnhem
Land also included a component on Indigenous knowledge of water occurrence and
significance (Zaar 2005). Feral animal impacts on wetlands have also been well
documented in this region, including the impacts on Aboriginal values and interests for
wetland and riparian ecosystems (see Robinson et al. 2005). As outlined in Chapter 2, there
are also important bio-security and border protection interests along many river systems
across the Arafura (Robinson and Bush 2006). Mining activities and impacts on river systems
have been a source of high concern for conservation and Indigenous groups in many parts of
the Arafura region. The ongoing issues surrounding the impact of Jabiluka mine on World
Heritage and Indigenous river system values are a case in point. The open cut mine on
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McArthur River near Borroloola has also been the subject of concern for conservation and
Indigenous groups. This concern has been heightened with recent proposals and legal
opposition to re-route a 5.5km section of the McArthur River and construct a large open cut
pit.
5.1. Research activities and existing projects
5.1.1.
Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP)
The TRIAP is described in Chapter 3. Sub-projects 2 and 3 are relevant to this review for the
Daly River. Sub-project 3 is relevant to this review for the Mary River of the Van Diemen
region.
Sub-project 2 is described above under the review for the Fitzroy River. The key values
associated with the ecological assets of the Daly River include: freshwater discharge,
perennial flow, habitat for key species, water quality, wildlife nurseries and habitat, erosion
control/sediment retention, and water regulation (Bartolo, Bayliss et al. 2008). Sub-project 3
of TRIAP develops a framework for the analysis of ecosystem services provided by aquatic
ecosystems and implements this for the Daly and Mary Rivers in the Northern Territory (de
Groot et al. 2008). The key output is a report that documents the provisioning, supporting,
regulating and cultural and amenity services provided by the wetlands of the Daly and Mary
River systems, and the ecological, socio-cultural and economic values that stem from these
services. Ecological values include: wetlands of national and international importance; and
the provision of habitat for rare, endemic, residential and migratory species. Socio-cultural
values include: “cultural heritage, spiritual and existence values, inspiration and expression,
knowledge, sense of place, aesthetic quality and recreation” (de Groot et al. 2008).
Economic values include: carbon sequestration, water use, agriculture/horticulture, and
tourism. The report also undertakes stakeholder and policy/institutional analyses and
provides estimates of the economic value of some ecosystem services.
5.1.2.
Recreational and Indigenous fishing surveys
This research is described in Chapter 2. In addition to the reports for the national survey
described above, there are reports detailing findings for the Northern Territory by Griffin
(1979), Griffin and Kelly (2001) and Coleman (2003).
5.1.3.
Aboriginal perspectives on land-use and water management in the Daly
River region
CSIRO undertook research into Indigenous values relating to water in the Daly River region
during 2004-2006. Funding was provided by Land & Water Australia’s tropical rivers program
mini-call and the Northern Territory Government to assist in the development of a land and
water plan for the Daly (Jackson 2004). A workshop was held in 2006 with Daly River, Ord
River and Murray River Indigenous representatives and water policy makers (Jackson and
Langton 2006). Results from the assessment of Indigenous values from the Daly River are
found in (Jackson 2004; Jackson 2005; Jackson 2006).
5.1.4.
Top End water studies
The Water Resources Branch of the Northern Territory Department of Infrastructure,
Planning and Environment undertook several studies of the water resources of the Top End.
The aim of the project was to provide water resource information to the public in a way that
can be readily understood and used in land and water management. This includes
information on cultural values and knowledge, and Aboriginal place names. Studies were
done for East Arnhem Land, West Arnhem Land, Katherine and South West Arnhem Land,
the Tiwi Island, and Wadeye/Nauiyu. A description of the work is reported in Zaar (2005).
Another water study has since been undertaken for the Australian Government’s Water
Smart Australia Program and the Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources,
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Environment and the Arts for the Gulf region from the Queensland border to the Roper River.
Information on the study can be found at http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/water/gws/.
5.1.5.
Ballad of the Northern Territory
The University of Melbourne undertook research on an Australian bush ballad about the daily
activities of men working by the Daly River. The findings are reported in Porter (1955), and
include discussion of some water related attributes, values and activities.
5.1.6.
Aquatic conservation values of the Daly River catchment
WWF-Australia, Charles Darwin University and the Environment Centre of the Northern
Territory undertook research on the aquatic conservation values of the Daly River catchment.
The aims of the project were to identify and document these values. The method used was a
desktop assessment. The findings are reported in Blanch et al. (2005).
5.1.7.
Daly Region Community Reference Group
The Daly Region Community Reference Group and Expert Reference Group synthesised
information on the cultural and environmental values, natural resources, agricultural
production, public water supply requirements and economic potential of the Daly region. The
aims were to identify resource management, land development and conservation issues in
the development of an integrated regional land use plan. In so doing, the Group explored a
number of values, threats and issues relating to water. The methods included desktop
reviews and community consultation. The findings are reported in Daly Region Community
Reference Group (2004).
5.1.8.
Economic potential for irrigated agriculture
The Northern Territory Office of Resource Development undertook research on the economic
potential for irrigated agriculture in the monsoonal areas. The aims were to collate available
information on factors influencing the economics of irrigated agriculture in the region. The
method used was a desktop review and analysis. The main output is a report (Hristova 2002)
that includes discussion of water availability and supply costs, and likely demand for irrigation
water.
5.1.9.
Indigenous water values and interests
A number of case studies of Indigenous water resource management institutions were
commissioned by NAILSMA Indigenous Water Policy Group in 2007-08. The IWPG research
program can be obtained from NAILSMA. Cooper and Jackson prepared a case study of
Indigenous values relating to the groundwater systems of the Katherine (Tindal aquifer)
region (see Cooper and Jackson 2008; Jackson and Altman in press). Altman and Branchut
(2008) prepared a case study on the Maningrida region.
5.1.10. Natural resources and development in the Daly River-Sturt Plateau
region
The Northern Territory Office of Resource Development undertook research on the
development potential of the Daly River-Sturt Plateau region and associated conservation
issues. The aims were to document the ecological and conservation status of the area and
identify some policy issues. The method used was a desktop review and analysis. The main
output is a report (Hristova and Murti 1998) that includes discussion of water resources, uses
and values.
5.1.11. Social values of the Daly region
Charles Darwin University undertook research to assess the social values of the Daly region.
The aims were to identify and document these values. The methods included focus groups.
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The study identified historical, tourism and recreational fishing values, with the river being a
key focus. The findings are reported in Young (2004).
5.1.12. Sustainable farming and grazing systems for the semi-arid tropics
The Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, CSIRO, the National
Landcare Program and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
undertook research on sustainable farming and grazing systems for the semi-arid tropics.
The aim was to provide the community with information on broad-acre agriculture in the Top
End and to document the principles and practices of sustainable production. The methods
used were desktop reviews and analysis and expert consultation. The findings are reported
in O’Gara (1998) and include discussion of water issues and practices necessary for
sustainable production.
5.1.13. Securing the long-term protection of the Daly River
The Environment Centre of the Northern Territory undertook research to explore a range of
conservation and ecologically sustainable development options for the Daly River region.
The methods used were desktop review and analysis. The findings are reported in Scott
(2006) and include documentation of important values of the Daly River that are under threat.
5.1.14. Landscape design for maintaining ecosystem services in tropical
agricultural landscapes
The Northern Territory Government is undertaking research for the Tropical Savannas
Cooperative Research Centre on the design of agricultural landscapes in the tropical
savannas to maintain ecosystem services. The methods include desktop reviews and
analysis and field trials. The work includes exploration of the impact of landscape designs on
water availability and quality and the maintenance of cultural values. This work is currently
underway.
5.1.15. Institutions for water trading and policy making in the tropical savannas
CSIRO undertook research for the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre on the
institutions governing and guiding water trading and related policy making in the KatherineDaly region. The aims of the project were to identify the institutions (sets of rules and
practices) governing and guiding water use and policy making about water in the region, and
to explore the potential impacts of new water trading rules and practices on environmental,
social and economic conditions in the region. The methods included desktop review and
analysis, stakeholder consultation, institutional analysis, experimental economics workshops
and agent-based modelling. The findings are reported in Straton (2006).
5.1.16. Cost-benefit analysis of Mary River salinity mitigation
ACIL Tasman Pty Ltd consultants undertook research for the Australian Greenhouse Office
and the Northern Territory Department of Infrastructure, Planning and the Environment to
evaluate salinity mitigation options for the Mary River. The methods included an economic
valuation and cost-benefit evaluation. The research established and valued the
consequences of likely salinisation options on human activity, including those based on the
water resources of the river system. The findings are reported in McInnes (2004).
5.1.17. Water resources of the Howard River region
CSIRO undertook research as part of a project with Charles Darwin University and the
Northern Territory Government for the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge research hub
and the Natural Heritage Trust on the water resources of the Howard River region. The aims
of the project were to identify and document the social and cultural values of these water
resources and to undertake a stakeholder assessment of the impacts of alternative water use
scenarios on these values. The methods included desktop reviews and analysis, semi-
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structured interviews, and a deliberative multi-criteria analysis. The findings are reported in
Woodward et al. (2008).
5.1.18. Yanyuwa land and sea management
John Bradley of Monash University and Richard Baker from the Australian National
University have undertaken many years research focused on Yanyuwa knowledge of species
and ecosystems within their land and sea estates (Bradley 1988; Baker 1999).
5.2. Water legislation and planning
5.2.1.
Ministerial and Departmental Responsibility
In the NT, water management responsibilities rest with various organisations (Figure 6). The
Minister for Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage is responsible for the protection of
the environment in the NT, including administration of the Water Act 1992. The Minister is
supported by the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport
(NRETAS). NRETAS is the primary water resource management organisation in the NT with
responsibility for ensuring sustainable use of natural resources through the regulation of
appropriate land and water management practices and provision of advice and information.
This includes responsibility for water resource planning and management as provided under
the Water Act (NT Department of NRETAS website. Accessed 3 June 2009).
Figure 6: Responsibilities for water management in the Northern Territory. Source: National Water
Commission website. Accessed 3 June 2009.
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5.2.2.
Water Legislation, Policy and Planning Framework
The NT water legislation, policy and planning framework is shown in Figure 7. The Water Act
1992 (as amended 2004) provides for investigation, allocation, use, control, protection,
management and administration of water resources in the NT. The Northern Territory
manages its water resources through a regulatory framework that includes the Water Act
1992, the Water Regulations and a series of water allocation plans in preparation. According
to the Water Act 1992, the Crown owns all surface and groundwater – a situation unique to
Australian water law. The Northern Territory’s water framework is not well developed with
only one plan completed. Recently recommendations have been made to introduce more
transparent policies and guidelines, including for Indigenous access to water (see for
example, Hamstead and Baldwin 2008). Legislation applying to water allocation and
management is in the process of review and revision.
Figure 7: Water Legislation and Planning Framework in the NT. Source: National Water Commission
website. Accessed 3 June 2009.
5.2.3.
Water Control District Declaration
The Minister can declare an area of the Territory to be a water control district. This is done
where there is sufficient current or potential competing demand for water to warrant water
allocation planning and licensing. There are currently seven water control districts in the
Territory.
5.2.4.
Integrated Natural Resource Management Strategy for the Northern
Territory
The Integrated Natural Resource Management Strategy for the Northern Territory addresses
the management of all natural resources with the view to conserving biodiversity, sustainably
using natural resources, and capacity building at a community level. The strategy identifies
and prioritises NRM issues across the Northern Territory and sets targets to address these
issues.
5.2.5.
Water allocation plans
Statutory water allocation plans direct the management of water in declared water control
districts. The Water Act 1992 requires that water allocation plans provide for the allocation of
water within the estimated sustainable yield to beneficial uses (including the environment).
Beyond this the Minister has broad discretion as to the content of such plans and how they
are prepared. Water allocation plans must be reviewed every five years and expire after ten
years. Currently there is one declared water allocation plan in the Gulf of Carpentaria region
of the NT. Other plans are in various stages of preparation.
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5.2.6.
Water Licensing
Water is allocated to consumptive uses which are licensed (for industry such as horticulture
and public water supplies) and non-consumptive uses that include the environment and other
public benefits that are not licensed. Water licences authorise the holder to take and use
surface or underground water, subject to conditions. Water licences are issued, transferred
or amended by NRETAS. In areas where a water allocation plan applies this must be done
consistent with the requirements of that plan.
5.2.7.
Monitoring and Assessment
Ongoing monitoring and assessment of water resources and water use contributes to plan
making and review. In addition public annual reports on progress in implementation of plans
will commence in 2007.
5.2.8.
Status of Water Planning in the Northern Territory
The only water allocation plan currently written is the Katherine Draft Water Allocation Plan
(Tindall Limestone Aquifer) (NT Department of NRETA, 2008). The allocation limits in this
plan are: dry season 87 percent environment and 13 percent consumptive pool; wet season
70 percent environment and 30 percent consumptive pool (Erskine et al, 2003).
5.2.9.
Unallocated water
The Water Act 1992 has no objects or principles to guide the development of a water
allocation plan. Sustainability is introduced through the concept of ‘beneficial use’. Through
the public declaration of beneficial uses, management goals are set for a water control
district to determine how and why community sectors and government want to protect,
manage and use the water resource. According to the Water Act, cultural beneficial uses are
defined as aesthetic, recreational and cultural needs. These needs cover those expressed by
the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. It is assumed that the cultural beneficial
uses are to be met by in-stream flow and that they are of a non-consumptive nature, i.e. their
satisfaction does not require water extraction.
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6. QUEENSLAND REGIONS IN GULF OF CARPENTARIA
This chapter summarises key research initiatives and projects that are occurring in the
South-West Gulf, Flinders / Leichardt, South East Gulf, Mitchell and Western Cape regions
(see Figure 2). Note that some of the research and project activities in these regions have
been described in Chapter 2. It is also important to note that the North Coral region and the
Mitchell and Western Cape regions of the Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division have often
been grouped together as the ‘Cape York Peninsula’ in other planning and research
contexts. Findings from reviews that do not make east and west coast distinctions will be
referred to as ‘Cape York’ attributes and characteristics and will be reviewed in Chapter 7.
There have been patchy areas of research activity focused on values and practices related to
water for Gulf of Carpentaria regions. No information could be found about research
activities that have occurred in Flinders- Leichhardt or South-East Gulf. There has been
some regional NRM and conservation NGO activities to protect multiple values in significant
wetlands throughout the Drainage Division. Water resource assessments of West and East
Arnhem Land undertaken by Zaar (2005) also included some of the rivers in Roper Region.
The work done by Greiner et al (2004b) highlights that most visitors are attracted to the
South-West Gulf region for the purpose of ‘fishing’ and those visitors inject an estimated
$14 million per annum into the local economy (comprising fewer than 1500 permanent
residents). Stoeckl et al (2006) found that participants of a focus group in Mt Isa placed a
high value on particular rivers (e.g. the Gregory). Considerable research and project activities
have occurred in the Mitchell Region, particularly through the Kowanyama Land and Natural
Resource Management Office. This includes the extensive anthropological work undertaken
by Veronica Strang who researched various Indigenous and non-Indigenous meanings and
values associated with water along the Mitchell River (Strang 1997; 2005).
6.1. Research activities and existing projects
6.1.1.
Gulf and Mitchell land and water assessment
The Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy undertook research
on the land and water resources of the Gulf and Mitchell regions. The aims of the study were
to collate information on the potential for irrigation development and assess the options. The
methods included desktop review and assessment. The findings are reported in Queensland
Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (2004) and include discussion of
current and future water demand and some financial and economic considerations for
irrigation options.
6.1.2.
Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP)
The TRIAP Sub-project 2 work is relevant to this review for the Flinders River. The key
values associated with the ecological assets of the Flinders River include: freshwater
discharge, water quality, wildlife nurseries and refugia, erosion control/sediment retention,
habitat for wildlife, and endemism (Bartolo, Bayliss et al. 2008). The key findings of a
stakeholder workshop in Richmond are given in Bartolo (2006).
6.1.3.
Benefits and costs of tourism for remote communities
CSIRO and James Cook University undertook research for the Tropical Savannas
Cooperative Research Centre on the benefits and costs of tourism for remote communities in
the Carpentaria Shire. The aims of the project were to assess community perceptions of
tourism, the tourism market and impact, and implications for management. The methods
included desktop review and analysis, and surveys. The findings are reported in Greiner,
Nursey-Bray, Smajgl and Leitch (2004a) and include discussion of the importance of
coastline, rivers and waterholes to the tourism experience, the availability of fresh water for
tourists, and the impacts of tourism on water places and resources.
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6.1.4.
Salinity risk in the Cattle Creek sub-catchment
The Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water undertook research
with the Cattle Creek Landcare Group and the Mitchell River Watershed Management Group
for the Northern Gulf Resource Management Group and Natural Heritage Trust on the risk of
salinity in the Cattle Creek sub-catchment of the Mitchell River. The aims of the project were
to collate and review existing information and conduct field studies. The methods included
desktop reviews and analysis and field studies. The findings are reported in Webb et al.
(2005) and include some discussion of the values of water in the sub-catchment and
irrigation practices.
6.1.5.
State of the rivers: Mitchell River and major tributaries
The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines undertook research for the
Natural Heritage Trust on the ecological and physical status of streams in the Mitchell, Lynd,
Palmer, Walsh and Alice River catchments. The findings are reported in Moller et al. (2002)
and include discussion of the recreation and conservation values of the catchment.
6.1.6.
Cultural landscapes and environmental values
The University of Oxford undertook research on how Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural
values underpin human-environmental relations using examples of Aboriginal people and
non-Aboriginal cattle farmers in the Mitchell River catchment. The methods included desktop
review, ethnographic field work, semi-structured interviews and anthropological analysis. The
findings are reported in Strang (1997) and include discussion of values, beliefs and practices
relating to water (cf. Strang 2001; Strang 2001; Strang 2002).
6.2. Water legislation and planning
Ministerial and Departmental Responsibility
In Queensland, water management responsibilities rest with various state organisations
(Figure 8). The primary water resource management organisation is the Queensland
Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM).
Figure 8: Responsibilities for water management in Queensland. Source: National Water Commission
website. 3 June 2009.
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Water Legislation and Planning Framework
The QLD water legislation and planning framework is shown in Figure 9. The Queensland
Water Act 2000 is the primary legislation for water resource management and provides the
statutory framework for water planning, including Water Resource Plans and Water
Operation Plans. The Wild Rivers Act 2005 provides for the declaration of parts of the State
as ‘wild river areas’ and includes provisions regulating future development activities within
the declared wild river area, in order to preserve desired natural values. They can typically
prohibit such things as new dams and weirs, levee banks and in-stream mining activities and
limit and/or make assessable other development such as agricultural, urban, commercial and
industrial activities.
Figure 9: Queensland Water Legislation and Planning Framework. Source: National Water
Commission website. 3 June 2009.
Indigenous and community input into Water Resource Plans
Water resource plans strive to achieve a sustainable balance between meeting human needs
and those of the environment. They set out the outcomes and strategies for sustainable
management and efficient use of water in each catchment. These plans address water in
rivers and lakes, and are in some cases being extended to include groundwater and overland
flow. Water resource plans apply for ten years and include:

Outcomes for water use (e.g. towns, agriculture, industry) including water allocation
security objectives;

Outcomes for the environment, including environmental flow objectives;

Strategies to achieve these outcomes; and

Monitoring and reporting requirements.
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Indigenous working groups and community reference panels have been established to
provide information, advice and opinion of interest relevant to the water resource planing
process. Economic and social assessments have also been conducted to assess current
social and economic condition and trends in each basin; assess current reliance on exiting
water resources and assess current and potential future water demands. This has been used
to inform draft water plans that have been established for the Gulf and Mitchell River Basins.
Key issues raised have been issues associated with the negotiation of native title issues; the
the affect of remoteness on water-dependent development and the intimate connection
between water quality and water demand at critical water sites (e.g cultural heritage sites and
popular tourist destinations).
Resource Operation Plans
Resource operations plans implement the outcomes and strategies specified in the water
resource plan. Resource operation plans detail how water resources will be managed from
day to day to implement the strategies and objectives set out in water resource plans. These
plans include provisions for the conversion of water entitlements to tradeable water
allocations, rules for water trading, and operation and management rules for dams and weirs,
Water Use Plans
Water use plans can be made for any area of the state where there is a risk that use of water
on land will have negative effects on land or water resources. They require any person using
water in the area to comply with any standards for water use practices, objectives for water
use efficiency, water reuse and water quality and monitoring requirements that are set out in
the plan.
Regional Rural Water Supply Strategies
Regional water supply strategies provide directions regarding urban, industrial and rural
water supply, distribution and implementation to meet future needs.
Source: National Water Commission website. 3 June 2009.
6.2.1.
Status of water planning across Queensland’s northern catchments
The status of water planning across Queensland catchments is shown in Figure 10.
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Future planning activities proposed
Draft water resource plan in preparation
Draft water resource plan released; draft resource operations plan in preparation
Water resource plan finalised
Draft resource operations plan in preparation#
Draft resource operations plan released*
Resource operations plan finalised—Water resource plan implemented
Water resource plan or resource operations plan amendment under way
Water resource plan review under way
Figure 10: Status of water plans in Queensland. Source: Queensland Department of Natural
Resources and Water website. May 2009.
6.2.2.
Wild Rivers
The Queensland Government can declare a wild river area under the Wild Rivers Act 2005 in
order to preserve the natural values of that river system. Once a wild river area is declared,
certain types of new development and other activities within the river, its major tributaries and
catchment area will be prohibited, while other types of development must be assessed
against this code. Each wild river declaration will identify these developments and other
activities. Also proposed developments and activities assessed against this code must
comply with its requirements.
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The natural values to be preserved through a wild river declaration include:

hydrological processes (unimpeded runoff, stream flow, aquifer recharge and spring
discharge)

geomorphic processes (unimpaired movement of sediments along the river system
resulting in stable bed and banks and sediment delivery to estuaries, floodplains and
downstream reaches)

water quality (of sufficient physical, chemical and biological quality to meet human
and ecological needs)

riparian function (intact riparian trees, shrubs and sedges to protect stream banks and
to provide food and habitat for native animals)

wildlife corridors (sufficient areas of natural habitat within and along the river system
to allow native fauna to migrate within their natural ranges).
Proposed developments
Proposed development activities are assessed for their potential impact on these natural
values. Works for taking overland flow are regulated in the high preservation area (an area
within and immediately adjacent to the wild river, its major tributaries and any identified offstream special features) and floodplain management area (floodplain areas that have a
strong hydrologic connection to the river system) of declared Wild River Areas. Self regulated
overland flow extraction is allowed for stock and domestic purposes where it is demonstrated
that the size of the extraction correlates to the need of stock and domestic purposes but not
more.
Existing developments
Existing lawful developments or activities, at the time a wild river declaration is made are not
subject to the requirements of this code. This code only applies to applications for certain
types of new development or activities lodged after a wild river area is declared.
Applications for certain types of development or activities received, but not decided, before a
wild river declaration is made are also not subject to the requirements of this code and will be
decided as if the wild river declaration has not been made. Existing agricultural
developments that didn’t require an authorisation prior to a wild river declaration, e.g.
agriculture and small scale animal husbandry, are not subject to the requirements of this
code. They will be registered as registered areas of agriculture at the time of declaration.
However, the expansion, intensification or significant alteration of these pre-existing
developments may be assessable development and therefore, prohibited or made subject to
the requirements of this code.
Source: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water website. May 2009.
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7. NORTH CORAL REGION
This chapter reviews research initiatives and project activities related to values, beliefs and
Indigenous practices related to water in the North Coral region (see Figure 2). It is important
to note that the North Coral region and the Mitchell and Western Cape regions of the Gulf of
Carpentaria Drainage Division have often been grouped together as the ‘Cape York
Peninsula’. As stated in Chapter 6, findings from reviews do not make east and west coast
distinctions will be referred to as ‘Cape York’ attributes and characteristics.
The Cape York Peninsula area has been a site of complex tensions between development,
‘wilderness’ and Indigenous values that has been a critical dynamic to environmental policy
in this area. Lane and Chase (1996) document the plethora of development proposals in this
area and note that the absence of structures and information to assess or respond to
possible social and environmental impacts. Investigations on how impact assessments were
conducted for some development initiatives also found that Indigenous people have been
consistently marginalised in decision-making processes about land and resource use in
Cape York. This echoes the findings of a recent report by Balkanu Cape York Development
Corporation that notes the Indigenous cultural significance of areas on Cape York have not
been comprehensively documented (Stanley and Roberts 2007).
In the 1980s the North Coral and Western Cape regions of Cape York were in the process of
being declared a wilderness area. This reflects the biodiversity significance of this region,
particularly heathland, rainforest, wetland and riparian ecosystems. Of the 80 bio-geographic
regions for Australia, the Peninsula is one of 15 of these regions where the majority of the
area is of high or very high wilderness quality (Mackey et al 2001). There is little
documentation about shared values for this region although the 1986 Cape York Heads of
Agreement does reflect a historic alliance between Cape York Land Council, the then
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission, Cattlemen’s Association and conservation
NGOs (ACF and TWS) to negotiate mutually beneficial interests to sustain land use on Cape
York. Efforts to declare this area as a ‘wilderness’ has caused considerable conflict. This
debate continues in current efforts to ensure the proposed listing of Cape York as a World
Heritage Area does not severely jeopardise the economic, social and community interests
and aspirations of the region’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents. Tensions between
development, Indigenous and conservation objectives for Cape York are also apparent in the
response to Queensland Wild Rivers legislation. This is particularly intense in the North Coral
region where much of this policy is focused.
Around 55% of Cape York’s 18,000 residents are of Indigenous descent and rivers, wetlands
and inter-tidal zones play a major role in Indigenous customary economies. Variations exist
within and between cultural group structures and linguistic groups, although the Indigenous
people of Cape York have critical social, historical and economic relations from their history
and interactions with missionary settlements and pastoral, fishing and tourism economies
that have occurred in this region (Lane and Chase 1996). Langton (2006) draws on
Aboriginal tenure relations in the Laura Basin to discuss the traditions practiced in relation to
water bodies, and the social nature of water in Cape York Peninsula.
Fishing is highly valued for recreation and non-market economies for all residents of Cape
York (CYMAG 2007) while mining, commercial fishing, tourism and cattle grazing form the
main market-based economies. In the Cape York regional NRM plan it is noted that there are
some impacts of mining, pastoralism and to a lesser degree Australian Defence Force areas
on water allocation and quality issues. Yet little information is known about severity and
management of water issues on these tenures (Cape York Regional NRM Plan 2005).
7.1. Research activities and existing projects
7.1.1.
Natural heritage significance of Cape York Peninsula
ANUTECH Ptd Ltd consultants undertook research for the Queensland Environmental
Protection Agency on the natural heritage significance of Cape York Peninsula. The aims of
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
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the study were to compile and inventory of criteria relevant to the assessment of natural
heritage significance. The methods included desktop review and analysis. The findings are
reported in Mackey et al. (2001) and include discussion of natural heritage values relating to
water.
7.1.2.
Water supply planning study report
The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines undertook research in support
of planning for the supply of water to the Atherton Tableland and Cairns region. The aims of
the study were to identify future water supply needs for the region and analyse possible
options for meeting them. The methods included desktop review and assessment. The
findings are reported in Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (2002) and
include documentation of the drivers of demand for water in the region, probable trends for
demand and the issues raised by the water supply options identified.
7.1.3.
Far North Queensland sustainable industries study
The Central Queensland University undertook research for the Queensland Department of
State Development to explore the values, issues, possibilities and principles for the
development of sustainable industries in Far North Queensland. The methods included
desktop review and assessment. The findings are reported in Blackwood (2003) and include
the raising of issues around water values, use and availability.
7.1.4.
Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy
The Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy (CYPLUS) was a joint initiative between the
Australian and Queensland Governments (see
http://www.environment.gov.au/erin/cyplus/lup/index.html). The purpose of the assessment
was to identify areas of natural conservation significance across the project area for inclusion
in the broader land use strategy development planned for stage two of the CYPLUS project.
The assessment was undertaken against the criteria for listing places on the Register of the
National Estate. Criteria of interest to this report include:

A.4 Importance for association with events, developments or cultural phases which
have had a significant role in the human occupation and evolution of the nation,
State, region or community.

B.2 Importance in demonstrating a distinctive way of life, custom, process, land-use,
function or design no longer practiced, in danger of being lost, or of exceptional
interest.

C.1 Importance for information contributing to a wider understanding of Australian
natural history, by virtue of its use as a research site, teaching site, type locality,
reference or benchmark site.

C.2 Importance for information contributing to a wider understanding of the history of
human occupation of Australia.

E.1 Importance for a community for aesthetic characteristics held in high esteem or
otherwise valued by the community.

F.1 Importance for its technical, creative, design or artistic excellence, innovation or
achievement.

G.1 Importance as a place highly valued by a community for reasons of religious,
spiritual, symbolic, cultural, educational, or social associations.

H.1 Importance for close associations with individuals whose activities have been
significant within the history of the nation, State or region.
The project has been undertaken in three stages 1) data collection, issues identification and
analysis of opportunities and constraints 2) the development of a coordinated strategy for
Cultural and social initiatives associated with water in Northern Australia – Interim report
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sustainable land use and economic and social development; and 3) implementation and
evaluation (Abrahams et al., 1995).
7.1.5.
Far North Queensland sustainable industries study
The Central Queensland University undertook research for the Queensland Department of
State Development to explore the values, issues, possibilities and principles for the
development of sustainable industries in Far North Queensland. The methods included
desktop review and assessment. The findings are reported in Blackwood (2003) and include
the raising of issues around water values, use and availability.
7.1.6.
Input into Water Resource Plans and Wild River legislation
The Queensland Government has undertaken an active albeit challenging process of
Indigenous and community consultation about water planning decisions in this region. This
includes the facilitation of input into the draft water resource plan for the Barron Basin. In the
Indigenous report, for example, key issues of concern identified include the need to integrate
water resource and water quality planing objectives, ensure Indigenous fishing and hunting
rights are protected, and ensure the planning process provides appropriate recognition of
Indigenous aspirations and cultural heritage prior to development activities occurring
(Queensland Government, 2009). The Queensland Government has also recently completed
a consultation process with Indigenous groups and also other stakeholders who are affected
by the Wild River legislation in Cape York. This process is continuing and highlights some of
the difficulties faced by water planning to balance multiple values from groups whose
interests in these rivers are framed by local, national and/or international perspectives.
7.2. Water legislation and planning
This is reviewed in relation to Queensland in Chapter 6.
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8. CONCLUSION
This review has outlined key research initiatives, projects and water plans and processes
that are framed as part of a broader concern to ensure water planning and decision-making
are made with appropriate regard for a range of social, cultural and economic issues. The
research initiatives and projects described in this report should also be seen as part of a long
history of water-related activities in Northern Australia. This large body of work highlights the
intimate relationship between water values and water management. Variable and dynamic
water values, beliefs and practices influence the use, quality and flow of water. In turn these
values, beliefs and practices are influenced by the ways in which water has and continued to
be managed.
This review of projects and research activities also highlights that water in Northern Australia
has environmental, social, economic, cultural and security dimensions. These water values,
beliefs and practices are held by a complex web of local, national and international groups.
Perhaps not surprisingly, decisions about what sector bears the costs, benefits and impacts
of water-dependent developments are critical and contentious issues for water planning in
Australia’s North. Projects developed to manage these rivers have been undertaken through
a diversity of Australian and international interest groups and funded through a range of
government and non-government funding programs. The complexity and range of interests
and management activities that exist in these northern rivers highlights the multi-scalar
dimensions of water governance in this region. It also suggests that northern adaptations of
NWI models of integrated water planning may be required.
Recommendations for research into the social and cultural and dimensions of water in
Northern Australia were not included under the terms of this review. Feedback on a draft
version of this report from researchers and practioners engaged in water issues across
northern Australia revealed a high level of interest in social and cultural dimensions of water
and water planning in many regions. A key message from this feedback was the need to
enable Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups to consider, reflect and refine further research
priorities in this area. This can then help form the knowledge base used to ensure that water
resources in Northern Australia are developed and protected in an ecologically, culturally and
economically sustainable manner.
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GLOSSARY
AIATSIS
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
ARIA
Accessibility Remoteness Index of Australia
AWF
Australian Water Fund
BRS
Bureau of Rural Sciences
CALM
Western Australia Department of Conservation and Land Management
CLCAC
Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation
COAG
Council of Australian Governments
CSIRO
Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation
DEH
Department of the Environment and Heritage
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
ERISS
Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist
GBR
Great Barrier Reef
JCU
James Cook University
KALACC
Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre
KLC
Kimberley Land Council
LGA
Local Government Area
LWA
Land and Water Australia
MA
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
NAIF
Northern Australia Irrigation Futures
NAILSMA
North Australian Indigenous Land & Sea Management Alliance
NAP
National Action Plan on Salinity and Water Quality
NCTWR
National Centre for Tropical Wetland Research
NHT
National Heritage Trust
NLC
Northern Land Council
NRM
Natural resource management
NT
Northern Territory
NWC
National Water Commission
QLD
Queensland
TRACK
Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Consortium
WA
Western Australia
WfHC
CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship
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APPENDICES
The following documents are related to this interim report
Appendix 1: Register of key organisations across Northern Australia associated with
Northern Australia (Excel data base)
Appendix 2: Endnote library of available literature
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