Apply for a water extraction licence: Darwin Rural Adelaide River

In June 2024, the Darwin Rural Area water control district was extended to include the Adelaide River catchment.

It is now called the Darwin Rural Adelaide River water control district.

Water resources in this district are in high demand.

Because of this, it has unique licensing rules.

Who needs a licence

You must have a water extraction licence if:

you want to take groundwater or surface water for business use
you're watering gardens larger than 0.5ha, whether for business or personal use.

Exemptions

You don't need a licence for:

using water for your home needs
maintaining a garden connected to your house (less than 0.5ha in total)
giving drinking water to your animals.

Adelaide River catchment area

If you are located in the Adelaide River catchment area PDF (1.2 MB), you can take up to 5ML a year without a licence. This is also referred to as outside the former Darwin Rural water district.

Read more about water permit and licence exemptions.

How to apply

To apply, follow these steps:

Step 1. Check what application you need and fill in the form

Fill in the form relevant to you.

Darwin Rural Area (previously exempt)

If you've been extracting water for commercial purposes at least once a year since July 2015 in the former Darwin Rural Area water control district, you must apply for a licence.

This application is free and streamlined. You can only apply until 31 July 2025.

Darwin Rural Adelaide River

If you have been extracting water for commercial purposes from the Darwin Rural Adelaide River water control district before 1 July 2024, you must apply for a water extraction licence.

This application is free and streamlined. You can only apply until 30 July 2026.

Apply to take water form PDF (276.4 KB)
Apply to take water form DOCX (105.2 KB)

If you were not previously exempt

For all other commercial and domestic water extraction, use the standard application.

Find out how to apply for a water extraction licence.

Step 2. Prepare your supporting documents

If your application includes commercially confidential information, you can request for it to be withheld from the public register by filling in the form below:

Commercially confidential information form PDF (571.4 KB)
Commercially confidential information form DOCX (67.6 KB).