Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy NORTHERN REGION SUSTAINABLE WATER STRATEGY CULTURAL HERITAGE VALUES ASSESSMENT Gaps Analysis February 08 Report to DSE By Megan Goulding, Petra Schell and Melinda Albrecht 1 | Page Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy © Department of Sustainability & Environment and ochre imprints 2008 PO Box 509 North Carlton, Victoria 3054 Phone/Fax: 03 9380 6159 Mobile: 0409 145 489 [email protected] 2 | Page Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy 3 | Page Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................... 5 Project Methodology .......................................................................................... 5 The Studies Analysed ....................................................................................... 6 Field Investigations/Workshop Proceedings: ................................................. 6 Policy Documents: ......................................................................................... 7 The Study Area ................................................................................................. 7 Summary of Indigenous Values Associated with Water .................................. 8 Summary of Indigenous Issues Associated with Water Management .......... 13 Gaps Analysis ................................................................................................... 21 Recommendations ............................................................................................ 22 Appendices Appendix 1 Jackson, S (ed) 2006. Recognising & protecting Indigenous values in water resource management ........ 24 Appendix 2 Weir, J 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life...................... 40 Appendix 3 Glenbar, W & Milward, K 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops ..... 43 Appendix 4 McFarlane, B 2004. The National Water Initiative & acknowledging indigenous interests in Planing ......... 55 Appendix 5 Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basin Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative ........................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix 6 Morgan, M, Strelein, L & Weir, J. 2004. Indigenous rights to water in the Murray Darling Basin ............... 76 Appendix 7 Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria .................................................................................................................................................... 80 Appendix 8 Department of Sustainability and Environment. 2007. Indigenous partnership framework, 2007-10 ......... 83 Appendix 9 Department of Land and Water Conservation 2000. Guidelines for assessing the impacts of water sharing plans on Aboriginal peoples – DLWC staff guidelines ..................................................................................................... 86 Appendix 10 CRM Grid ................................................................................................................................................... 90 4 | Page Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Introduction The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) is currently in the process of developing a Sustainable Water Strategy (SWS) for the Northern Region of Victoria. The Northern Region SWS will outline how climate change and other risks will affect water security across the region over the next 50 years. It will provide the direction and actions required to secure water supplies for homes, farms, businesses, industry and the environment. As part of the development of the SWS, DSE is seeking community feedback on a range of options for managing the uncertainty of water security in the long term. An important aspect of the community engagement process is to seek a better understanding of the value that Indigenous communities in the Northern Region place on water. DSE recognises that Victorian Indigenous people have for many thousands of years been involved in sustainable management of the land and waters of their Country. Country is central to Indigenous peoples’ culture and identity. The health of waterways and land is therefore an important dimension of Indigenous cultural interest. Building on the principles of the DSE Indigenous Partnership Framework that commits to greater involvement of Indigenous communities in the management of the natural environment, the DSE’s Office of Water is commited to engaging with Indigenous communities about future natural resource management initiatives, and in particular water management. One of the objectives of the Sustainable Water Strategy project is to better understand and capture the Indigenous cultural values associated with water in the Northern Region. The completion of a cultural values assessment will occur concurrently with the engagement of Traditional Owners and Indigenous groups as part of the NRSWS engagement program. Project Methodology This report is designed to provide DSE Office of Water with an analysis of the level of previous engagement with Indigenous people relating to water values in the Northern Region and to identify any gaps in this engagement. The main tasks are to: • Undertake a gaps analysis of existing documentation for the northern region regarding Indigenous values associated with water and issues of specific relevance to the development of the NRSWS; • Provide advice on the documentation and expression of Indigenous values associated with water in the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy. In this report publications that relate to identification and management of Indigenous cultural values associated with water in the Northern Region of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia (ostensibly the Murray Darling Basin region), have been reviewed (this analysis has also included several policy documents that focus on ways of 5 | Page Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy engaging with Indigenous people about natural resource management). The analysis has been broken up into the following components: • Detailed overview of the methodology and scope of each report/investigation (reproduced stand alone as appendices) • Summary of documented Indigenous values associated with water as outlined in each resource document • Summary of documented Indigenous issues associated with water management as outlined in each resource document • Analysis of the gaps arising out of the studies in terms of their canvassing of Indigenous interests in water and water management in the study area • Recommendations regarding ways of addressing current gaps. The detailed overviews of each report have been included as Appendices 1-10. The Studies Analysed The studies that have been examined for this project comprise outcomes of field investigations, workshop proceedings and policy documents. The field investigation and workshop documents primarily focus on Indigenous water values and issues in Victoria although those investigations that relate to the Murray Darling Basin naturally take in communities in South Australia and NSW: Field Investigations/Workshop Proceedings: • Glenbar, William and Karen Milward. 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops • Jackson, Sue (ed). 2006. Recognising and protecting Indigenous values in water resource management – a report from a workshop held at CSIRO in Darwin, NT 5-6 April 2006. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Northern Territory. • McFarlane, Bardy. 2004. The National Water Initiative and acknowledging indigenous interests in planning. • Morgan, Monica, Lisa Strelein and Jessica Weir. 2004. Research Discussion Paper – Indigenous rights to water in the Murray Darling Basin. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra. • Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basion Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative. • Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria.Victorian Catchment Management Council 6 | Page Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Weir, Jessica. 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life. Social and Institutional Research Programme Policy Documents: • Department of Land and Water Conservation. 2000. Guidelines for assessing the impacts of water sharing plans on Aboriginal peoples – DLWC staff guidelines. Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney. • Department of Sustainability and Environment. 2007. Indigenous partnership framework, 2007-2010 • Department of Victorian Communities, Cultural Resource Management Grid Maps by Catchment Management Authority. The Study Area Figure 1 shows the study area in northern Victoria. Bordered to the south by the Great Dividing Range, the study area extends