As traditional owners, Karajarri people inherit and bequeath customary responsibilities for bottom water , on-top water and various dependent ecosystems. Under their law, Karajarri are responsible for looking after these water places, ensuring that people follow the correct protocols when visiting and maintaining knowledge through stories and song. To geological surveyors, those kurnangkul are simply surface expressions of the water table in unconfined sandstone and limestone aquifers . Western Agricultural Industries propose to pump living water to grow genetically engineered cotton, on pastoral leases over Karajarri country. They will need broad-scale clearing and monoculturing.
Chemicals are likely to pollute aquifers.
Huge amounts of water will be drawn, dropping regional aquifers rapidly by around 70 metres. Waterholes and wetlands may dry up or become salty. Karajarri people feel that plans to develop cotton farms on their country, irrigated by groundwater, amount to a direct threat to their cultural traditions and to their capacity to practise their law. In particular, people fear drawdown of the water table and chemical pollution of the groundwater. This is the place here that belongs to Aboriginal people.