Knowledge Water Source Story

inspecting edge of spring fed rainforest at knowledge water source

The spring at Mundjawuy flows all year and it is surrounded by rainforest. For generations the Munuku clan has called this place home. It is a cool water refuge from the baking heat of a dry season day.

14 years later these kids are now adults wanting to keep living on thier country and working in the Knowledge Water Busisness

The rainforest is sacred, so no one enters it without permission of a djunggayarr (caretaker) but children are free to swim and play just a little further downstream. This water source is why Dula and Gambili Ngurruwutthun chose to build houses here.

East Arnhem Land has a monsoon climate and the wet season lasts a month longer than it does in Darwin because when the winds swing around to the south east in Midawarr (March) they are still picking up moisture from the gulf.

The nearest weather station is less than 100km away at Gapuwiyak and it gets an average of 1771 mm rain each year. This is the rains that recharge the supply of Knowledge Water.

Bush Mangoes harvested from Mundjawuy bushland

The longer growing season is one of the reasons East Arnhem Land is so bountiful.

East Arnhem land is pristine wilderness with small communities like ours scattered around while the rest of the country is natural bush full of tucker and needing fire management. A lot of the lands is fairly flat and there are places where wet season lagoons form that do not drain into rivers.

This where water recharges the aquifer of young water that feeds the Knowledge Water spring. The local bore in this aquifer can produce a lot of water and it is clear, soft and sweet and so good that we can bottle it without changing it chemically.

planting nithung - Bush Current - a rainforest tree with tasty red fruit.

It is a small bottling plant and the amount of water we take is insignificant to the recharge rate and the amount coming from the spring to feed the rainforest and river. The land owners and care takers want the Knowledge Water business but it is important that we look after the people and environment as well as make money. They want to be able to keep eating all of the natural bounty and maybe even develop some other bush produce business with he profits from Knowledge water