Technical report commissioned by the Goyder Institute for Water Research
Project summary and aims
The Murray-Darling Basin Plan seeks Basin states to consider Aboriginal cultural values in water resource risk assessment. Currently South Australia, like other Basin states utilise risk assessment processes that are unable to integrate Aboriginal values and hence Aboriginal interest are not being meaningfully integrated into this fundamental element of water planning. This is a significant policy gap for all Basin states.
This project developed and trialed a methodology that supports the translation of Ngarrindjeri Yannarumi assessments into water resource risk assessments. It articulates the points of connection between this assessment process and the water risk assessment process. The methodology is designed to inform the necessary adaptations required to the S Department of Environment and Water's (DEW) current water risk assessment conceptual models to integrate Aboriginal cultural values.
This project is informed by previous Goyder Research projects in partnership with the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority and staff from Indigenous Nation Building and Governance (previously located at Flinders University).
UTS Research team
Steve Hemming, Daryle Rigney and Amy Della-Sale
Collaborators/partners
Goyder Institute for Water Research
Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority and Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation
South Australian Department for Environment and Water
Ngarrindjeri are the Traditional Owners of the Lower Murray, Lower Lakes, Coorong and surrounding region. Over the past 15 years, Ngarrindjeri have emerged as a leading Indigenous nation in relation to Indigenous engagement in water resource management in the River Murray. Through the Murray Futures program, the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority with the Indigenous Nation Building and Governance (INBG) Research Hub have established a range of innovative Indigenous engagement approaches that support Ngarrindjeri engagement. These approaches were recognised through winning the 2015 Australian Riverprize. Murray Futures investment has supported the emergence of the Ngarrindjeri Yannarumi Assessment process that enables assessments of the environmental and water health, based on Ngarrindjeri principles and philosophies.