Aboriginal Waterways Assessment program

36 Aboriginal Waterways Assessment — Part B The program
‘Yeah, can’t we try it and fail, like
they do? Oh no, we can’t do that!
We’ve got to go to university for that!
That’s what it all comes down to.’
Assessment teams will feel more
confident in the value of the
assessment process in influencing
decisions once it has been used in
successful negotiations with water
planners. Traditional Owners would
then have some assurance that there
is value in assessing more places.
Aboriginal communities need to
know how water planning works
Repeated exposure to places in poor
condition raised questions about the
institutional arrangements that have
led to and maintained the current
distribution of water.
The Walgett assessment team did
not raise doubts about the value
of an Aboriginal assessment of
river health. However, there was
limited understanding of who
makes decisions about water. In
the Wednesday afternoon debrief,
discussion of how the results might
be used led to the research team
setting out where responsibilities lay
across local, state and national levels.
One person in the assessment team
knew some of this, but to the rest, it
was a bureaucratic mystery.
Communities need to understand the
basics of water resource planning,
sustainable diversion limits and
environmental watering. They need
to know what opportunities they
have to be involved and the roles of
MLDRIN, NBAN, state agencies and
the MDBA. They need to meet faceto-face
with water planners, on their
own terms.
What are the other benefits of
using the assessment process?
The assessment process enables
the community to draw its
knowledge together.
An objective of all the communities
participating in the pilot program
and their supporting organisations
(Werai Aboriginal Negotiating Team
in Deniliquin, Dharriwaa Elders group
in Walgett, and the Dhudhuroa and
Waywurru Native Title groups in
the Victorian Alps) is to ensure that
Traditional Owner knowledge is cared
for and kept for future generations.
Finding 25
Traditional Owners will develop
more confidence in the AWA
following positive experience with
agencies involved with water
planning and management.
Finding 26
The assessment process has the
potential to bring policy and
regulatory realities into water
planning and management.