Announced water allocations
Every year on May 1, the Controller of Water Resources announces how much water a Northern Territory (NT) licence holder can use for the upcoming year.
These announcements are part of the NT’s approach towards sustainable water resource management in the top end.
They're also called the announced allocations or AAs.
It's one of the regulatory mechanisms used to ensure water use activities don't cause environmental harm to water ecosystems.
Get a print-friendly version of the announced allocation fact sheet DOCX (78.4 KB).
Assessment
The announcement specifies how much of the allowed water can be used, based on an assessment of the affected water resources.
Inside of a water allocation plan area, the plan and the announced allocation procedure determine the process to be followed for announced allocations.
Outside of a water allocation plan area, where the NT water allocation planning framework applies, wet season rainfall is used to predict the aquifer and receiving rivers response for the dry season ahead.
If the assessment reveals that the river flows are:
- likely to be affected by more than 20%, then all existing licence holders may be subject to a proportional cut in their allocated volume
- this is in order to ensure that the environmental limit of 20% is met
- unlikely to be impacted by more than 20%, then full entitlements will apply.
For more information, read all water allocation plans.
List of AAs
Below are the AAs:
2024 to 2025
- AA 2024-25: Katherine Tindall Limestone Aquifer Notice PDF (761.6 KB)
- AA 2024-25: Oolloo Dolostone Aquifer Notice PDF (752.8 KB)
- AA 2024-25: Daly Roper Beetaloo Water Control District Notice PDF (912.6 KB)
- Katherine, Daly and Roper region early notice - February 2024 PDF (53.1 KB)
- Katherine, Daly and Roper regional climate update December 2023 PDF (857.1 KB)
2023 to 2024
- AA 2023-24: Katherine Tindall Limestone Aquifer Notice PDF (236.3 KB)
- AA 2023-24: Oolloo Dolostone Aquifer Notice PDF (237.8 KB)
- AA 2023-24: Daly Roper Beetaloo Water Control District Notice PDF (983.9 KB)
- Katherine, Daly and Roper region early notice - March 2023 PDF (121.1 KB)
- Katherine, Daly and Roper regional water update - December 2022 PDF (1.2 MB)
2022 to 2023
- AA 2022-2023: Katherine Tindall Limestone decision PDF (1.5 MB)
- AA 2022-2023: Mataranka Tindall Limestone decision PDF (1.3 MB)
- AA 2022-2023: Edith River decision PDF (867.0 KB)
- AA 2022-2023: Tindall Flora Jinduckin decision PDF (943.7 KB)
- AA 2022-2023: Adelaide River decision PDF (721.5 KB)
- AA 2022-2023: Upstream Katherine River decision PDF (959.1 KB)
- AA 2022-2023: Darwin Rural (Berry Springs) decision PDF (950.8 KB)
- AA 2022-2023: Oolloo Dolostone decision PDF (1.4 MB)
- Katherine, Daly and Roper regional climate update - December 2021 DOCX (1.3 MB)
- Katherine, Daly and Roper region early notice - March 2022 PDF (759.0 KB)
Contact
If you have any questions, contact the Water Resources office.