Cultural water and Indigenous water science

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https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi0658

By Erin O'Donnell et al, Science. 

Excerpt: Water management failings in [Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin] MDB, which is home to more than 40 First Nations who have lived sustainably with water for tens of thousands of years through the creation and application of Indigenous water science ..., have drawn attention to the living legacies of colonial exploitation and the associated social and ecological impacts. We need to learn from Australia’s failures and change the way we know, value, and manage water, including learning from Indigenous scientists and Elders. The MDB, which supports a center of irrigated agriculture across more than 1 million km2, is known for its multiyear “boom-bust” riverine cycles, but climate change is intensifying these extremes. ...When the British invaded Australia, the legitimacy of their occupation was founded on the assumption of terra nullius, or land belonging to no one, despite the clear presence of First Nations with laws governing access to and use of land. This flawed beginning enabled the equally erroneous assumption of aqua nullius, or water belonging to no one, with no acknowledgment that First Nations had and continue to have laws governing the care and management of water.... These flawed assumptions became the foundation for more than two centuries of extractive, unsustainable water management.... Although Western science has recognized the importance of integrated water management, it gives far less weight to the cultural and spiritual well-being that is essential for First Nations. Water managers still categorize water into different uses that can be traded-off against each other, whereas Indigenous knowledge shows that cultural water economies are built on healthy Country and support healthy people....

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