Apply for a water extraction licence in Darwin rural

The water resources in the Darwin rural water control district don't have large storages and are in high demand.

Because of this, the Darwin rural area has unique licensing rules.

Who needs a licence

You must have a water extraction licence if:

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

You don't need a water 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.

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.

If you previously had an exemption

If you've been extracting water for commercial purposes at least once a year since July 2015, you must apply for a water extraction licence.

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

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).