Water allocation
Water allocation is about deciding how to divide and distribute water resources among different people, groups, and activities.
To sustainably manage and allocate water resources in the Northern Territory (NT), water allocation plans are developed.
These plans set how much water:
- can be taken from groundwater and surface water resources
- needs to remain to protect the resource.
Plans cover a specific area and water resource within a declared water control district.
Get the map of water allocation planning areas.
How they're developed
Plans are developed under the Water Act 1992.
They're based on:
- water quality and availability
- consultation with the community, Aboriginal people, industry and environmental organisations.
They're developed on a priority basis in areas where:
- there are competing demands for human consumptive needs and/or
- where natural aquatic ecosystems have significant ecological or social values.
A water allocation plan is declared by the minister for up to 10 years. Plans get reviewed at least every 5 years.
What each plan includes
Each water allocation plan consists of 3 parts.
Background report
The background report explains the science and facts behind the water resource, its values and use, including:
- district, area, plan history and changes
- resource, climate, rainfall and technical information
- environmental and cultural needs of water in the area
- licensed and non-licensed permitted water uses.
Water allocation plan
The plan sets out the:
- relevant control district and water management zones
- purpose and objectives of sharing water
- estimated sustainable yield of each water resource
- allocation to beneficial uses within the estimated sustainable yield
- eligible land for Aboriginal water reserves and their size
- benchmark for acceptable change to the environment
- water licence requirements
- review period
- maps of the district and plan area.
Implementation actions
The document outlines goals for the objectives and how progress will be reported.
It also includes items about:
- monitoring the resource
- timeframes
- who's responsible for what
- key performance indicators.
The background report and implementation actions support the statutory water allocation plan.
Read more about the set of documents in the water allocation plan documents overview DOCX (70.7 KB).
Water control districts provide closer management of water resources and enable the development of water allocation plans.
Current and under development plans
Below is a list of water allocation plans that are current and under development in the NT:
Contact
If you have any questions, contact the Water Resources office.