The long term goal of the Indigenous Engagement in Water
Resource Management Project is
Sustainable
management of water resources that provide for the health,
cultural, social, economic well being of Indigenous communities
dependent on this natural resource.
The project focuses on five priority
areas raised by the National Water Commission for
northern rivers.
1.
Improve the capacity to develop
and implement water management plans that incorporate
environmental, cultural and economic factors in areas of strong
inter-seasonal variation.
2.
Enhance knowledge and
understanding of river ecology and water-dependent ecosystems,
including access to traditional knowledge.
3.
Improved understanding of surface
and groundwater interactions, particularly in the seasonally dry
wet-dry tropics.
4.
Efficient supply of high quality
water to remote communities; appropriate management responses to
the supply of water to isolated/remote communities.
5.
Water accounting and assessment of
water resources.
It
is envisaged that these priority areas will be achieved by
developing and maintaining collaborative relationships among
partner organisations, researchers and other water users and
managers, including State and Territory Government departments. The
outcomes from communication and networking between Indigenous and
non-indigenous managers and scientists involved in surface and
ground water resource management is three fold:
I.
It will assist in empowering
Indigenous people in decision making and implementation regarding
the management of surface and ground water habitats and
resources.
II.
It will assist in empowering
Indigenous people in planning for water allocations, whether they
are allocations for cultural, economic, environmental or social
purposes.
III.
It will improve the understanding
of the wider Australian audiences of the rights, roles,
responsibilities and achievements of Indigenous people in managing
surface and ground water habitats and their resources and how this
translates to benefits at the National level.
