Traditional owners in South Australia say BHP is drying up outback springs

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Mining can be thirsty work. And in South Australia's outback, mining giant BHP uses more than 33 million litres of water a day at its Olympic dam site. That water comes from the Great Artesian Basin - use that traditional owners say has damaged, and in some cases dried up outback springs that are both environmentally and culturally important.

Transcript

00:00To an outsider, the outback can seem harsh and unforgiving.

00:08But growing up on this land, Arabunna Elders Betty Larkins and Joe Hull say they had plenty.

00:15Oh, if we ran out of water in Finna Springs, we would come to the next spring.

00:20Yeah.

00:21Life off the southern shores of Katitanda Lake Eyre is fed from the freshwater springs

00:26that dot the landscape.

00:27For the Elders, returning to those springs now causes heartache.

00:32It's like kicking in the gut, ripping your heart out or whatever, it's really sad.

00:36But the saddest thing at the moment, yeah, you can see algae in there.

00:40And that was never, never, ever been.

00:44The springs are fed from the Great Artesian Basin, a massive underwater resource covering

00:49around 22% of the Australian continent.

00:52First Nations people have relied on these waters for thousands of years,

00:56and with colonisation it became an essential water source for settlers, pastoralists and mining operations.

01:03The decades of extraction have taken their toll.

01:07While some springs still flow, others have completely dried up.

01:11It's not the same. It's sad.

01:14While the Great Artesian Basin has long been used as a water source for agriculture and outback communities,

01:21the Arabunna are concerned about the high volume of extraction from one of their closest neighbours, BHP's Olympic Dam Mine.

01:29The Arabunna say these dry springs and bores are a direct result of a BHP well-filled just 10 kilometres from here.

01:36It extracts more than 4 million litres of water a day,

01:40with another well-filled about 60 kilometres away extracting nearly 30 million litres of water.

01:46The Arabunna are the native title holders for this land, but they have no agreement with BHP over its extraction.

01:53Since 2019 they've been in negotiations with the miner for compensation for damage to their cultural sites,

02:00but they say there's been little movement.

02:03I just want BHP to come and front us.

02:07Come sit around the table and talk to us and tell us what's going on

02:10and we could explain to them how we feel and they could see.

02:15Zaheer McKenzie is an Arabunna ranger.

02:18His role is to preserve and protect his country.

02:22Zaheer is younger than the elders, but says even in his years visiting, the springs have deteriorated.

02:28He's frustrated negotiations with BHP are taking so long.

02:33I don't think they're not really taking us seriously.

02:36I don't think they are.

02:37You know, we put it out there, but nothing seems to change.

02:42It's just still a full bore ahead for them.

02:45You know, pumping water, taking water out.

02:47In a statement to the ABC, BHP says it acknowledges the cultural significance

02:51of the great artesian basin and springs to the Arabunna people.

02:55The company says it's reduced its reliance on the wellfield closest to the springs

03:00and will stop taking from that area in the mid-2030s

03:03when there are plans to build a desalination plant to service the region.

03:07It says it regularly engages with traditional owners on water use,

03:11planning and confidential agreement making.

03:17Finnis Springs is a place where the Arabunna can gather on their country.

03:21Betty and Joe were both born here when it was an old station and mission.

03:26It's a place that still holds a deep significance for the Arabunna.

03:30Many hope an agreement with BHP will help them improve this place

03:34so elders and their families can return.

03:37This is where I was born.

03:39The thing is, you know, it's nothing like, you know, coming home to the country

03:43because it's something that's embedded in your heart, you know.

03:48I am going on 82 and what my kids gonna, what they got,

03:55and I just want to leave something from them.

03:58A call to protect the life-sustaining waters of the outback.

04:02How to protect the great planet,

04:03I feel right, the other teachers are getting muchывайтесь on

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