Water is a vital resource. It's also a scarce one, particularly in the remote and arid landscape of central Australia.
In the community of Ali Curung - about four hours north of Alice Springs - water is central to residents’ fears about the future.
The community has been protesting the largest-ever water extraction licence to be granted by the Northern Territory Government.
“If the water will be taken out, there would be no more life for us,” Ali Curung resident Valerie Nelson told NITV’s The Point.
“There’s going to be a drought and we will be living in other people’s land. There would be destruction on this land.”
Valerie Nelson and Arana Rice are among Ali Curung residents concerned about their water. Source: NITV
The farm plans to grow fruit trees, vines and vegetables on the property.
In a statement to The Point, Fortune Agribusiness said the company is “100% committed to ensuring the protection of neighbouring sacred sites and respecting the cultural values of the region”.
They said their maximum water allocation is “well within the aquifer’s sustainable yield”.
“This will have no direct impact on the availability or quality of water at Ali Curung, and continuous monitoring and reporting will confirm this,” the statement said.
'A strong message'
But Ali Curung resident Arana Rice said the community still has concerns for their Country.
“Water is precious," she said.
"If they make a big farm down that way they might get more water and we won’t have much water in this community. [The water] will taste salty.
"We wouldn’t have much water for maybe shower or maybe watering our lawns or gardens.”
Another resident, Zeza Egan, said the community is resolved to continue their fight against the water allocation licence, and wants governments to listen to their voices.
“We want to put a stop on that, us Yapa [Aboriginal people] we want to put out a strong message to stop that,” she said.
“They should have come to face us, the community, and ask us for the water. We’ve got ancestors saying 'No we don’t want to give our water', away otherwise Ali Curung would go dry.”
'Taste and odour concern'
The community of Ali Curung Source: NITV
Ms Rice said the water also made her hair and skin feel "sticky” when she showered.
NT Power and Water Corporation said the issue was due to maintenance works, and was resolved by June 24. The company supplied bottled water for babies under three months of age during this period because Ali Curung’s groundwater has high levels of naturally occurring nitrate.
Power and Water provides drinking water to 72 communities across the Northern Territory, they consider several of these communities as “highly water stressed, largely due to inherent water source scarcity in many regions”.
“Community drinking water sources are mostly groundwater (aquifers), which can be difficult to monitor, have highly variable water quantity (capacity) and quality, and are subject to a variety of stresses and risks,” their spokesperson said.
Ali Curung residents said water security could have a huge impact on their future.
“This is a crisis of what is happening to us, this is a crisis of our future generations,” Valerie Nelson said.
“What’s going to happen? We’ll go into a drought.”
Zeza Egan said this fight over water is to benefit future generations of Ali Curung community.
"If they get this water we’re dying,” she said.
“We don’t want them to get water from Ali Curung. We want this water for our children, our future.”
