Stanley is a small Australian community fighting for its water and needs your help.

The Stanley Plateau nestled in the foothills of the Victorian Alps is fighting for the right to preserve its water resources from extraction by a company that transports the water to a plant in Albury, across the border in NSW, for bottling. The bottled water from Stanley and surrounding areas is for domestic and overseas distribution processed by a multi-national company.

The Stanley Plateau is entirely dependent on rainfall for its existence. The residents of Stanley do not have access to a municipal water supply. They provide their own water for domestic and farming uses by accessing bores that draw water from groundwater aquifers, pump from creeks and streams, many of which are tributaries to rivers and dams that supply water to surrounding towns and villages, or by collecting rainwater in tanks.

Rich soils support thriving agriculture and horticulture production, and cattle and sheep farming. Stanley is known for its high-quality nut, berry, apple, and pear production, as well as cottage industries that produce high quality preserves and other products.

First class bed and breakfast accommodation supports thriving touris activity with visitors drawn to the area by farm door sales, in-season pick your own berries, and access to the beauty of Alpine flora and fauna through the four seasons. Spring and Autumn in the alpine country is spectacular. All this depends on access to high quality water. Depletion of Stanley’s water resources causes much anxiety in a community dependent upon annual rainfall for its existence.

At the moment it is chestnut harvest season. Approximately 500 tonnes of chestnutswill be harvested over the next few months. It is worth at least $A2M to local growers. Many will benefit; growers and their families; pickers, haulage companies; local businesses and other services. These benefits all derive from the rain that falls on Stanley.

There are no social, economic or environmental benefits for Stanley from the extraction and bottling of its groundwater. There are social, economic and environmental benefits to Stanley and the surrounding area by letting the water remain in the aquifer for access by the local community.

You can support us by contributing through this website. 

TheStanley community is challenging the process that threatens its watersupply in the Victorian justice system. To do that requires fund raising $30,000 as a surety to the legal process. $20,000 has already been raised through the local community.  

A further $10,000 is needed. Will you help?

Our cause begins with the fundamental right to the water that falls upon us and seeps into our soil. Allied to this cause is the right to decide our own future in our own Commnity.

We believe that it is wrong to take water from a thriving agricultural region, and bottle it for domestic and export markets.

If we lose our water, we lose our livelihoods, and our community withers.

Our case is compelling and we are recieving excellent representation from our Legal team, who are appearing Pro Bono on our behalf.

Our challenge is to raise enough money to cover legal costs

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We have already raised $20,000 from our small community, and we are now asking for your help to meet the challenge that faces us.