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Yuwaya Ngarra-li – ‘Vision’.CLD Centre Align

"The Dharriwaa Elders will lead a collaboration with UNSW and other supporters to grow our individual and community strengths and assets. We aim to restore a robust belonging to thriving families, community and country, while making our place in the nation and sharing our learning with other communities". Dharriwaa Elders Group, Walgett.

The purpose of Yuwaya Ngarra-li is for the Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) and UNSW to work in partnership to improve the wellbeing, social, built and physical environment and life pathways of Aboriginal people in Walgett through collaborating on evidence-based programs, research projects and capacity building, and to evaluate this model of CommUNIty-Led Development as a way of working with other Aboriginal communities.

Yuwaya Ngarra-li is an initiative that will promote two-way learning between Walgett's Dharriwaa Elders Group and a range of UNSW faculties, with long term academic leadership by ASsoc. Professor Ruth McCausland and keenly supported by the Vice-Chancellor

Warning: Images of deceased persons may appear. Yuwaalaraay / Gamilaraay pronunciation guide.

Dharriwaa Elders Group hosted "Impact Engineers" in Walgett in February 2019. DEG has long held concerns

for the health of surface and ground waters of Walgett. The DEG understands the cultural significance and vital importance of water to the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of the Walgett Aboriginal Community. Over its 20 years of operation, DEG has become increasingly aware of the vulnerability of Walgett’s water infrastructure and capacity, and the lack of planning for the impact of climate change. The DEG is also aware of the low priority that the views of the Walgett community are given in planning for water security.

Our rivers, the lifeblood of our community, have been grossly mismanaged given our changing climate, and water saving measures have not been put in place. Walgett means ‘the meeting of two rivers’, the Barwon and Namoi, and yet no water currently flows in those rivers at Walgett. The town’s drinking water supply is coming from the Great Artesian Basin since the Namoi River has dried up. We have held significant concerns for some time about the high levels of sodium in this bore water and the serious implications for a community with high levels of chronic disease, informed by world experts who have tested Walgett’s drinking water. Long term use of bore water in the drinking water system is neither a safe or viable solution for Walgett.

Our concerns were realised when Walgett’s drinking water supply was jeopardised over the new year period after a breakdown at the local treatment plant, leaving the water levels in the reservoir at critical levels and Walgett Shire Council urging residents to conserve filtered water for drinking. With temperatures reaching well over 40 degrees, some residents were also left without air conditioning after evaporative air conditioners could not operate. Concerned people from across NSW donated bottled water to Walgett residents, in a moving display of generosity and shared outrage that Walgett could be so vulnerable to losing its water supply.

Water and related issues are a priority for the Yuwaya Ngarra-li partnership. As part of the long-term commitment to Walgett through Yuwaya Ngarra-li, UNSW Engineering’s IMPACT Engineers and the Global Water Institute were invited by DEG to visit many months ago to scope water projects, including new infrastructure, training and long term capacity building.

The YN team developed and provided an induction program for the students in Sydney and then with Elders in Walgett. While in Walgett the team were invited to scope water projects for the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service's Community Garden, and the provision of Drinking Water Kiosks.

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