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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website might contain images of people who are deceased.
Submission on Draft Mataranka Water Allocation Plan
The NLC made a submission to the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security (DEPWS), NTG about the the draft Mataranka Water Allocation Plan (WAP).
The current draft Plan does not provide enough information and safeguards for the NLC to have confidence that the rights and interests of Traditional Owners and Aboriginal people in the region will be met, or that the proposed total allowable extraction and licensing arrangements will keep the Mataranka region and downstream along the Roper River catchment safe.
The Draft Mataranka Water plan relies largely on modelling rather than work undertaken on Country. The Plan does not have meaningful recognition of Traditional Owners and their relationship with water, it also prioritises a Western concept of water management and the economic development of non-Aboriginal water holders above all else. It only allows the involvement of Traditional Owners at a time in the future where permanent damage will have already occurred. This must not be allowed to happen; the Plan must be rewritten.