News Water efficient micro farm underway in Walgett

The process of creating a water-efficient micro farm at the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service (WAMS) Community Garden is now well underway. From 27-29 September, four UNSW engineering students from Impact Engineers visited Walgett to help WAMS install 48 wicking beds, filled with a special soil mix and covered by shade poly tunnels. To make the visit as efficient as possible, the structures were pre-assembled at UNSW Sydney’s Makerspaces. This enabled the on-site assembly to be achieved in one day.

In February and September 2019, the first and second sets of wicking beds were installed as a trial to test their productivity and water-efficiency. When these test beds produced positive results, in November 2019 funding from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment enabled the installation of 48 further beds to help support the Walgett community.

The Food and Water for Life Working Group supports Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) and WAMS to progress Walgett food and water security projects. So far, the growing group includes people from Walgett Local Aboriginal Land Council, Walgett AECG, Walgett Shire Council, Walgett Community College, Aboriginal Environmental Health Unit Health Protection NSW, Mission Australia and DEG's Yuwaya Ngarrali collaborators from the George Institute and UNSW-GWI.