Roper River clans make Roper River Declaration

Between 20 and 22 May 2025, First Nations clan members from across the Roper River catchment gathered for a groundbreaking forum to discuss the future of the Roper River. They have called for Federal Government funding support to establish the “Ropa Woda Governance Council: Living Spirit, Living Water”, and established an interim working group to progress these plans. Marion Scrymgour MP attended the meeting and committed her support for the Governance Council moving forward.

The Roper River is a waterway of extraordinary cultural and ecological significance, and has been governed by the laws of the the Mudburra, Yangman, Jawoyn, Manggarayi, Bin Bin.ga, Alawa, Ngalakgan, Ngandi, Ritthangu-Wagilak, Rembarranga, Marra, Warndarrang, and Nunggubuyu people for millennia.

The catchment includes stone country escarpments, springs, salt pans, billabongs, floodplains and tidal flats. The Roper is one of a handful of major rivers in the north that flows all year round. Groundwater sustains not only the channel flows during the long dry, but large wetlands, rich forests, springs and thermal pools, including the famous Mataranka pools and Bitter Springs in Elsey National Park.

However, the Roper is facing unprecedented development pressure from large-scale water extraction and fracking for gas. Huge water licences have been granted to developers without the free, prior and informed consent of Traditional Owners. Against this background, climate change threatens to irreparably damage northern Australian waterways.

The meeting has made a declaration that calls for the establishment of the Ropa Woda Governance Council, and a ban on all future water extraction licences and surface water harvesting in the Roper catchment and the inclusion of the Ropa Woda Governance Council in all water decision-making from now on. An interim working group will be established for 12 months to guide the establishment of the Ropa Woda Governance Council.