Pilbara traditional owners push back ono Rio Tinto, state government water extraction from sacred sites

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Traditional owners in Northern WA are making an urgent plea to the state government and the mining industry to stop draining water from underground aquifers. They say the use of billions of litres every year from the water table underground is threatening the precious and ancient water systems.

Transcript

00:00What survives out in the Pilbara is tough, adapted to a climate where months pass without

00:07rain.

00:08But every system has its breaking point.

00:10There's no water here, nothing whatsoever.

00:14In the Bungaroo Valley, a 15 hour drive north of Perth, the region's traditional owners

00:18say seasonal rivers are running dry more often than usual.

00:23I think myself, I'm failing as a, you know, I'm failing as a particular owner.

00:29What my responsibility is for the land.

00:32Nine water bores in the valley were added to the West Pilbara Water Supply Scheme in

00:362014, helping supply the region's growing coastal towns and mining giant Rio Tinto's

00:42port operations.

00:44After 10 years, the traditional owners commissioned a hydrologist to find out how much groundwater

00:49levels had dropped.

00:51We're talking about going from, you know, within five metres of the surface to now in

00:55lots of areas closer to 10 metres of the surface.

00:57The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation also monitor groundwater levels,

01:02but won't release its own findings.

01:05Their data does, however, show rainfall levels in the Karatha region have been below average

01:09over the past four years.

01:11This is my people's country.

01:14Further north, the Ndjubandi people are also pushing back against water extraction from

01:19the Millstream Aquifer.

01:20In your heart, this kind of sinks because we all remember the days when we were young,

01:26you know, coming out here with our grandfathers and this place was a whole lot different.

01:31The Water Corporation takes six billion litres a year from Millstream, the maximum level

01:35deemed safe by the state government back in 2010, but it also has permission to take another

01:40three billion litres until 2027 if low rainfall levels continue.

01:45I don't think we can go on the next 50 years, you know, drawing water from this place.

01:48I don't think it's sustainable.

01:50Rio Tinto agrees the amount of groundwater extraction is unsustainable.

01:54We understand that the science of 10 years ago is different to the science of today,

01:59and we need climate-friendly solutions.

02:01One of those solutions is desalination.

02:04Nestled in this industrial port in Dampier, the mining giant is building a desal plant

02:09set for completion in 2027, and a larger one to be built by the state is also on the way

02:14for the Pilbara for 2030.

02:16By then, much less water will be needed from Millstream, and the Bungaroo aquifer won't

02:21be needed at all.

02:22Still, some Robe River elders don't want to wait another five years.

02:26Nowadays, money doesn't matter.

02:29Our country is priceless, our culture is priceless.

02:33Rio Tinto says it's open to reducing water use in other parts of the Pilbara should more

02:37language groups push back.

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