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https://theconversation.com/how-the-myth-of-aqua-nullius-still-guides-australias-approach-to-groundwater-270374>
"Indigenous people have coexisted with Australia’s vast and ancient groundwater
systems for thousands of generations. Their knowledge extends back through deep
time, before our current climate and waterways. It offers insights that Western
science is only beginning to quantify.
When rain falls, some can seep into the ground, becoming groundwater. This
water can remain underground for as little as a few months, or for millions of
years. Eventually it is taken up by plants, or flows into springs, rivers and
the ocean.
Australia’s groundwater resources underpin the economic growth and prosperity
of the country. But they are under greater pressure than ever before. Legal
battles over water in the NT, including extraction licences, highlights the
rapid pace at which decisions over the future of water are being made.
Our new paper shows the “business as usual” approach to groundwater science and
management risks perpetuating colonial injustices. And it compromises our
ability to manage water sustainably as the climate grows warmer and population
increases.
Most Australians are aware of
terra nullius, the legal fiction that Australia
belonged to no-one before European settlement. But very few know about
aqua
nullius, – “water belonging to no-one”. This is a similar fiction suggesting
Traditional Owners had no rights to the water they had used for millennia.
We show how the legacy of
aqua nullius remains embedded within contemporary
groundwater science. And urge Australia to take a different approach."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
