Water action achieves shared benefits

Water for the environment has been delivered to Box Creek for the first time at the request of Mutthi Mutthi Traditional Owners and landholders to support the creek’s cultural heritage and ecological values.

Earlier this year, Traditional Owners, local landholders, NSW Government environmental water managers and the Healing Country team collaborated to undertake a preliminary cultural heritage survey of Box Creek, located near Oxley in the Riverina.

It is the first time that Box Creek was a specific target for an environmental watering action. The environmental flow was planned and delivered by NSW environmental water managers in partnership with the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.

Kaleana Reyland, Team Leader First Nations Programs with Water for the Environment, said the Healing Country program creates opportunities for Aboriginal communities to participate in environmental water planning.

‘The primary objective of an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment is to evaluate the water-dependant cultural values and significance of a particular area or waterway,’ Ms Reyland explained.

‘We spent 2 weeks combing the landscape, identifying water-dependent cultural values such as women’s and men’s sites, artifacts, and scarred trees,’ she said.

Mutthi Mutthi Elder, Patsy Winch, whose son John initiated the survey, said it was wonderful to see water flowing in the creek again, noting it had already sparked new life in the landscape.

‘If you look around there are dragonflies buzzing about, native food sources, and you can hear the frogs and birds,’ Ms Winch said.

‘Advocating for environmental-cultural flows and getting it to this stage, then our work with the cultural heritage survey, is incredibly rewarding.

‘We’ve played a big part in bringing flows back to the creek and demonstrating that this area was inhabited by our ancestors. Their spirits and presence are still here today with the signs they left behind – fireplaces, scarred and ceremony trees.

‘It’s about getting water on Country,’ Ms Winch said.

Long-term water plans were developed in 2020 for 9 river catchments across inland New South Wales to guide the management of water for the environment. A recent review identified opportunities for improved inclusion of Aboriginal values and objectives.

In response, the department commenced a program of engagement and nation-led projects with traditional custodians.

‘Often when communities talk to us, they ask if we can put environmental water in a certain area. We work with community to identify the options available and look at what the barriers and constraints might be,’ Ms Reyland said.

‘Originally it was thought we couldn’t get water down Box Creek – and now look at it.’

‘This is a great story of collaboration and perseverance. When we engage with other communities, we can use Box Creek as an example – we can say, “Keep working together and great things can happen”’

‘This is what the program is about – incorporating these values and places in our long-term water plans.’

Biodiversity, Conservation and Science’s Senior Environmental Water Management Officer Dr Jo Lenehan said an innovative delivery method on the back of a wet year maximised the reach of the flow.

‘We’ve been talking about this watering action since 2021, spurred on by the persistent urging of Mutthi Mutthi and landholders,’ Dr Lenehan said.

‘This year, we trialled an idea we’ve wanted to implement for a while, but it needed a lot of stakeholders to collaborate and agree to change the status quo – which is always challenging as there is some uncertainty around things that haven’t been done before.

‘We have been working up to it since 2021, gradually building relationships with all creek landholders, as we value the entire Merrowie–Box Creek as one diverse and connected ecosystem.

‘With this new approach starting earlier than usual, coupled with a fantastic autumn break, we had environmental water running down Box Creek much sooner, much further, and easier than anyone expected,’ Dr Lenehan said.

Fergus McLachlan of Tupra Station said the collaboration offered great opportunities to achieve shared benefits for the environment and cultural places and values.

‘It is the first time I have seen water delivered specifically for Box Creek,’ Mr McLachlan said.

‘You don’t want to leave the place in worse condition than you’ve found it, we’ve done enough damage.

‘We’ve got less water than we used to have. We irrigate, we’ve got towns, we’ve got mines, but we’ve got to use what we’ve got efficiently.

‘That’s why I became involved, I don’t want to leave the place to my kids and say, ‘Oh sorry.

‘If you wreck it, you’ll never get it back,’ he said.