Sounding Spaces

Alter Bahnhof Video Walk Janet Cardiff

Water flows eastwards along the Cox’s river. This water responds to its environment, rising and lapsing in moments of drought and rainfall, all the while attempting to sustain the ecosystem around it. The Cox’s river run begins in Ben Bullen, flowing across the central tablelands through Megalong Valley, eastwards towards the Hawkesbury/Nepean catchment eventually becoming impounded by Warragamba Dam in Lake Burragorang – Sydney’s water supply. The water itself inhabits many places and from each place it carries a trace of sediment, as it navigates the natural and man-made environments and altered landscapes, such as Lake Lyell and Lake Wallace, that are constructed to fulfil purposes set by farmers, mining companies, power stations and recreational and civic demands.

Over the time-span of 20 years I have been humbled by this rivers existence. Since 1994 my parents have lived on an acreage in Megalong Valley where the Cox’s river underscores the lower section of their bottom paddock. Here the river is traversed by two crossings, one a relatively new concrete causeway built for private use and the other an older steel bridge that provides access for the water board to the river through our property. Interestingly, there is also an above-ground steel pipeline crossing the river beside the steel bridge. This is the Oberon to Medlow bath pipeline, constructed to send drinking water from the Fish river up to Greaves catchment in Medlow Bath.

The pipe, bridge and river junction beneath my parent’s property interest me. I often consider the fact that the water courses naturally in the Cox’s river while the Fish river’s waters are piped artificially over the top of the river through the steel pipeline. Although the pipeline contributes to the upper Blue Mountains water supply, it is only pumped as replenishment for the larger reservoir, so it operates more as a back up. During the dry, hot summer months that are typical of this region the Cox’s flow is usually very low, often muddy and stagnant with rampant algal blooms. At this time, the pipeline may be ebbing with fresh cool water from the Fish River. This is an ironic factor of the presence of these two different passageways of water.