Water governance in the Northern Territory is in crisis. Four Corners has exposed a huge water grab by industry, enabled by the territory government. A comprehensive federal inquiry into water governance in the NT is needed to avoid an environmental catastrophe. For some time, water researchers, Indigenous traditional owners, recreational fishers and environment groups have warned of a reckless approach to water regulation that jeopardises the remarkable rivers, springs and wetlands of the territory.
But not even a looming election this weekend has dampened the NT government’s commitment to policy settings that encourage unsustainable practices, especially groundwater mining.
The Lawler government has said it will revamp water legislation to bring it in line with national standards but it continues to defend a licensing system that allows speculation and water hoarding, often at the expense of the water rights of Indigenous communities. In several high-profile cases, gigantic licences have been granted at no cost to irrigators despite credible warnings of significant environmental effects.
Controversy is focused on the groundwater that sustains the emerald green waters of the Mataranka Springs tourist site and the Roper River, renowned as one of Australia’s prime fishing locations. The NT water minister, Kate Worden, is considering a draft water allocation plan that will double the amount of groundwater allowed to be extracted, to 62.4 gigalitres a year. That plan ignores warning signs of the harmful consequences of such a leap in licensed pumping as happened a decade ago in the same area. This includes evidence of a decline in dry season groundwater levels near the Mataranka thermal springs.
Independent scientists were particularly critical of the draft plan when it was released in February because they were concerned key scientific findings and data were misrepresented or omitted in documents and consultations. Traditional owners from the region’s many language groups have observed unseasonal changes to wetlands and worry the Roper River or other waterbodies could stop flowing if groundwater flows are diverted. Compelling scientific evidence that the plan could cause a significant decline in groundwater levels and degrade the region’s springs, many of which are sacred sites, led to calls for the plan to be rewritten, including from the Northern Land Council, the representative body for traditional owners.
Last year, it was the Beetaloo basin, rich in gas reserves, that was in the spotlight. A water allocation plan covering the same large, regional aquifer that sustains the Roper and Daly Rivers further north was fast-tracked to serve the needs of industry. The Georgina Wiso water allocation plan allows for the largest allocation of water to be made in the NT’s history – 14 times the current rate of groundwater use. The views and values of local communities, particularly traditional owners, were sidelined in a process that arguably represents a new low in Australian water planning. The Northern Land Council said the draft plan was “blatantly disrespectful”, and said the development process “did not involve genuinely consulting with traditional owners”.
Eighteen of Australia’s water specialists from universities across the country, including myself, appealed directly to the chief minister to stop licensing until a robust scientific evidence base was established and the NT could demonstrate it was adhering to national water policy. Our call for reform fell on closed ears. More recently, in May this year, the Productivity Commission’s assessment of progress in implementing national water reform singled out the NT as a jurisdiction that is “backsliding”.
Water governance in the territory needs a fundamental and deep-rooted overhaul that recognises the national significance of its socio-hydrological systems.
It took federal government action to implement historic reforms that seek to restore health in the Murray Darling Basin. That crisis compelled the federal government to play a stronger role in governing water and to underwrite the cost. National environment laws also place an obligation on the federal government to protect the many vulnerable and endangered species reliant on territory waters, such as sawfish and turtle species. No less important are federal responsibilities towards native title, including Indigenous cultural heritage.
Indigenous Territorians have their own rich and complex institutions of water ownership and management. Their extensive knowledge of ancient networks of interconnected ground and surface water flows, long history of sustainable management, and an ethic of caring for country, all point to the benefits of genuine co-management of river lands. In investigating and responding to the territory’s water crisis, the federal government must empower and resource traditional owners to help determine the shape of new models to protect river health and provide sustainable and equitable access to water.