The mining industry is a significant water user, an issue that gains a particular prominence in arid zone mining regions, such as the Pilbara region in Western Australia (WA). Mining companies extract vast amounts of water from the groundwater aquifers to access orebodies and to dewater the mine pits. Much of this water is dumped in creeks, injected back into the aquifer downstream or used in mining processing. There is increased awareness from community members for sustainable water use in mining beyond life of mine, and the emergence of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles in the mining and metals sector signals a shift towards recognizing the importance of water stewardship. Much of the land subject to dewatering in the Pilbara is also subject to native title determinations. For Traditional Owners, important cultural values are associated with water. However, water is not adequately covered in native title, especially in relation to commercial use. We argue that Traditional Owner involvement in design and management of the use of excess water from a mining proponent's water licence (dewatering) can assist in sustainable use of groundwater, as well as provide opportunities in social and economic enterprises. As a provocation style piece, this paper is based on secondary literature, rather than ethnographic data. It explores the political and regulatory landscape of mine dewatering and outlines the limitations that have existed historically and currently and which inhibit Traditional Owners to participate in water management or commercial water interests. We also provide a high-level analysis of several mining proponents' public policy commitments to water stewardship to assess the sustainable use of water which involves stakeholders such as Traditional Owners in water decision-making. Finally, we identify possible opportunities and provide some recommendations, for water futures in this dry region where iron ore mining and gas extraction, already massive, are expanding further.

中文翻译：

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采矿业的可持续用水？西澳大利亚皮尔巴拉地区传统业主参与商业用水和管理的重要性

采矿业是用水大户，这一问题在干旱地区采矿区尤其突出，例如西澳大利亚州 (WA) 的皮尔巴拉地区。矿业公司从地下水含水层中提取大量水来开采矿体并对矿坑进行脱水。大部分水被倾倒在小溪中，注入下游含水层或用于采矿加工。社区成员对矿山寿命结束后采矿业可持续用水的认识不断提高，采矿和金属行业环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 原则的出现标志着人们开始认识到水资源管理的重要性。皮尔巴拉地区大部分需要脱水的土地也需要进行原住民所有权的确定。对于传统业主来说，重要的文化价值与水有关。然而，原住民所有权并未充分涵盖水，特别是在商业用途方面。我们认为，传统所有者参与采矿支持者用水许可证（脱水）中多余水的使用的设计和管理可以有助于地下水的可持续利用，并为社会和经济企业提供机会。作为一篇挑衅风格的文章，本文基于二手文献，而不是民族志数据。它探讨了矿山排水的政治和监管格局，并概述了历史上和目前存在的限制，这些限制阻碍了传统所有者参与水管理或商业水利益。我们还对一些采矿支持者对水管理的公共政策承诺进行了高级分析，以评估水的可持续利用，其中涉及传统所有者等利益相关者参与水决策。最后，我们为这个干旱地区的水未来确定了可能的机会并提供了一些建议，该地区的铁矿石开采和天然气开采规模已经很大，并且正在进一步扩大。