{"id":125310,"date":"2025-11-08T22:21:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T22:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125310\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T22:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T22:21:12","slug":"plan-to-save-sacred-millstream-aquifer-welcomed-amid-water-sustainability-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/125310\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan to save sacred Millstream aquifer welcomed amid water sustainability concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pilbara’s Yindjibarndi Nation has welcomed a new partnership with the West Australian government around the Millstream aquifer, a sacred water source which has been heavily depleted.<\/p>\n

The state government has announced a $12.4 million investment to protect cultural sites at the Millstream Chichester National Park aquifer, 1,600 kilometres north of Perth.<\/p>\n

It will see the relocation of bores impacting significant ecological and cultural sites, and the installation of solar-powered battery systems to reduce noise.<\/p>\n

The Millstream aquifer is 120km from Karratha and provides water for Dampier, Point Samson, Roebourne, Karratha and Wickham.<\/p>\n

The announcement came after the state’s Environmental Protection Authority launched<\/a> an investigation into the groundwater usage of the aquifer.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Millstream aquifer is 100km from Karratha. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Watering the region<\/p>\n

Millstream is considered to be sacred and significant by the Yindjibarndi.<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

The arid landscape of the Millstream Chichester National Park. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

The Millstream aquifer supplies Karratha’s drinking water and the region’s lucrative resources industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the state government lowered the abstraction from the Millstream aquifer from 15 billion litres to 6 billion litres per year, however, a temporary 3 billion-litre contingency remains.<\/p>\n

Yindjibarndi Nation heritage and cultural management officer Aaron Hubert Snr said they first noticed water levels dropping a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Aaron Hubert Snr has a heritage and cultural management role with Yindjibarndi Nation. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

The traditional owners want it reduced further to 4 billion litres.<\/p>\n

“If we don’t do anything now, if we don’t act on it \u2026 there’s going to be more damage than what we see here now,” Mr Hubert said.<\/p>\n

“We need to be a lot more involved in the control of water.”<\/p>\n

The Yindjibarndi say the Millstream’s flora and fauna are facing degradation if the groundwater is over-abstracted and becomes saline.<\/p>\n

Yindjibarndi rangers have reported a decline in native species and an increase in semi-arid flora able to thrive in saline water, such as acacias, in the area.<\/p>\n

Native trees, such as old melaleucas, have begun to die and rangers are concerned there are no new trees to replace them.<\/p>\n

“We’d rather see [the water] here for the environment and for the animals,” Mr Hubert said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Onslow’s Karlon Parker, 11, cools off at Jirndawurrunha Pool. Swimming is only permitted by traditional owners until a certain age. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Cost to future generations<\/p>\n

Millstream is a special place for Yindjibarndi ranger Tremayne Guiness, who has camped at the site with his family since he was a young boy.<\/p>\n

“In the morning, we’d get up at breakfast and come out to all the swimming places \u2014 back then it was beautiful, and the water was so blue and green,” Mr Guiness said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tremayne Guiness has been a ranger three months and worries his daughter will not be able to enjoy the landscape he once did. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Now as a caretaker of country, Mr Guiness said he had watched most of the native fauna leave Millstream, and questioned if the environmentwould still be around for his daughter.<\/p>\n

If the area is not protected, Mr Guiness said his daughter would not have the same opportunities, and she would need to rely on photos and documentaries to learn about her culture.<\/p>\n

“It makes me feel sad, you know, because then I can’t bring her here. What’s the use of bringing her here?” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tremayne Guiness takes part in a welcome to country. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Saline water<\/p>\n

According to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, rainfall in the Pilbara has been decreasing.<\/p>\n

Hydrogeologist Ryan Vogwill said the lack of recharge at Millstream had caused saline water to be drawn into the bore field, affecting vegetation which previously had access to fresh water.<\/p>\n

“Should 15 gigalitres have been approved? In hindsight, obviously not,” Dr Vogwill said.<\/p>\n

“If that saline water keeps coming to the Millstream river itself, it would be devastating, I’m sure, for the traditional owners.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jirndawurrunha Pool in Millstream Chichester National Park. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

He said the use of water from a sacred site for irrigating public spaces and dust suppression for mining should be reconsidered and perhaps restricted.<\/p>\n

“We have to stop short of having really optimistic assessments of how much water is available,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Karratha relies on water from the Millstream aquifer. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Plans for the future<\/p>\n

Water Minister Don Punch agreed Millstream was not a sustainable long-term resource and acknowledged the current output was having an effect on the land.<\/p>\n

“Traditionally, we’ve made decisions into water based on Western science, and that means it’s essentially what water is where, and how much can we take,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Don Punch was in the Pilbara this week to make an announcement alongside Michael Woodley. (ABC Pilbara: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Michael Woodley said the two parties would continue to work together to find a solution.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been on this path for a long, long time in terms of the concerns and issues that we’ve raised in relation to the extraction of water at Millstream,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We wanted to obviously make sure that there is a shared view and a shared solution so that we can all kind of bear some responsibilities in terms of how much do we take, what is the reasonable limit and continue to walk on that journey together.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pilbara’s Yindjibarndi Nation has welcomed a new partnership with the West Australian government around the Millstream aquifer,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[87245,273,87241,87242,111,139,69,87239,87244,87246,147,5013,87243,87240],"class_list":{"0":"post-125310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-don-punch","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-michael-woodley","11":"tag-millstream-aquifer","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-pilbara-water-crisis","16":"tag-ryan-vogwill","17":"tag-sacred-site","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-wa-news","20":"tag-wa-water-issues","21":"tag-yindjibarndi"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}