Should communities remain in areas of known water scarcity where water resources cannot sustain the

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Should communities remain in areas of known water
scarcity where water resources cannot sustain the
population?A case study from a remote
Aboriginal community

• Meryl Pearce
• Based on research with Eileen Willis, Carmel
  McCarthy, Ben Wadham
• Flinders University
• South Australia

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Outline

• The study area
• The study objectives
• The water resource issues in each community
• Water resource options
• Conclusion

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Study area
Nepabunna
Scotdesco
Yarilena
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Study objectives

• To conduct an economic appraisal of water costs
  to households through a cost of living analysis
• To identify strategies aimed at reducing water
  costs to householders while simultaneously
  promoting water conservation, greater water use
  efficiency and the sustainability of water
  resources
• To promote Aboriginal wellbeing through
  reductions in costs associated with water
  services

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Household water costs
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Perspective

• In town people walk away from their own homes.
  They cant even pay rentPeople just walk away.
  Thats going to happen in the outback.
• just walking off and living with someone else
  because they cant pay for water and power

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Nepabunna
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Photo SA Water

• There has been significant expenditure on
  essential services in Aboriginal communities
• A technical audit by SA Water stated the
  infrastructure was of a high standard and
  approaching best practice for the harsh
  environmental conditions

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Availability and sustainability of the water
supply

• Water resources will last 10 years
• Significantly less than 249 mm rain since 1990
• Boreholes are under stress despite being pumped
  at sustainable rates

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Nepabunna
Photo SA Water
Rainfall collected from the covered basketball
court provides the potable supply
Dual reticulation water supply
Figure adapted from Morgan et al 2004
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Usability of the groundwater
Source NHMRC 1996 Australian Drinking Water
Quality Guidelines Morgan et al 2003
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Water use

• Mean water use in summer 545 L/p/d
• Mean water use in winter 295 L/p/d
• Evaporative coolers can consume over 880 L/d,
  over 200 days a year
• Housing and cooling systems are incompatible with
  the paucity of water resources

Photo Tom Jenkin
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Bush tucker project at Nepabunna
Alternative water resource options
Wastewater treatment plant
Revegetation using treated recycled water
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Water conservation options

• The National Water Initiative legislation
  requires urban water accounts to provide
  comparative water use

Source Environment Protection and Heritage
Council 2006
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Scotdesco

• Water use is 141 L/p/d
• Constraints of poor regional groundwater quality
  and a low-yielding aquifer
• Problems with the desalination plant
• Indirectly water costs 25/kL

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Scotdesco
Rainfall is 300mm per annum
Source of map Google Maps
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The principal drawback to the occupation of
Eyres Peninsula has been the absence of a good
water supply and the difficulty of providing one
(South Australian Parliamentary Papers,
1909) The economy of Eyre Peninsula will
suffer unless more water is found (Clarke 2005)
Source of all figures Twidale and Smith (1971)
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Previous ground-based rain water harvesting at
Koonibba
Remote communities have lots of space available

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Some Scotdesco residents would like to have
waterless toilets
Source of figures Clivus Multrum
Implications for policy Communities have a
responsibility to support the viability and
sustainability of their water supply, but
continued support to implement the technologies
is required
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Yarilena

• Receives water from
• the Tod-Ceduna
• supply system
• operated by SA Water

• Problems
• Incompatibility of mains supply with internal
  piping caused pressure bursts
• Recycled water from STED plant needs restoration

Septic Tank Effluent Disposal (STED) plant
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• Success
• A successful Commonwealth
• Community Water Grant
• There is now 100 rain water
• collection
• Costs reduced from 28,000
• per annum to 3,000

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• An example of passive cooling features
  appropriate for semi-arid regions
• Locational advantage of cooling sea breezes

Water use is 208 L/p/d
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There is scope for the communities to maximise
the resources offered by locality (e.g. sunshine,
space) and minimise the constraints of the
locality (paucity of water)
Applicability of results across arid and
semi-arid regions
8 to 9 hours of sunshine a day

• Source of figure Bureau of Meteorology 2008

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Closing statements

• ...the challenge in remote settlements is to
  utilise smarter, more regionally-appropriate ways
  of gaining the basic serviceswithout the
  negative consequences of wasting valuable water
  
• (Beard 2007)
• We can no longer be tied to the land through the
  old wayswe need new knowledge because the
  situations we face are new situations
• (Kunoth-Monks 2007)

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Acknowledgements

• Funding bodies
• Desert Knowledge CRC
• Family, Community Services Indigenous Affairs
• Aboriginal Affairs Reconciliation Division
  (Premier Cabinet, SA)
• CRC for Aboriginal Health
• United Water
• Flinders University
• Participating communities
• Nepabunna
• Yarilena
• Scotdesco
• Davenport