Adelaide River water allocation plan
| Current plan | Currently in development, due for completion mid-2027 |
|---|---|
| Map | Adelaide River water allocation plan map PDF (1.2 MB) |
| Area | 7,640km2 |
An Adelaide River catchment water allocation plan is being developed to support water security for the greater Darwin region.
The plan's goal is to share water between water users, including:
- the environment and the community
- for businesses and jobs.
The plan will be informed by science and the local community to manage and regulate the use of surface water within the Adelaide River Catchment.
It will cover the length of Adelaide River from its headwaters in Litchfield National Park to the coastal plains of the Arafura Sea, and all other creeks and rivers that flow into Adelaide River.
This is 0.56% of the Northern Territory and 71% of the Darwin Rural Adelaide River water control district.
Read more about the Darwin Region Water Supply Infrastructure Program on the Water Security website.
Consultation
To help with the plan's development, the community is involved through the Adelaide River Water Advisory Committee.
A summary of the committee meetings are available on the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment website.
In 2025, the department established an independent scientific ecohydrological technical advisory panel led and operated by CSIRO.
The panel have been commissioned to inform the environmental water requirements of the water plan and provide expert scientific services in several areas, including:
- identifying key ecological assets in the catchment
- reviewing published flow-ecology considerations for those assets
- assessing ecological risks to the ecological assets from water extraction scenarios
- recommending future priority research and monitoring needs.
Panel membership and delivery details are available on the CSIRO website.
The public will also be invited to have their say on the draft Adelaide River water allocation plan via the Northern Territory Government Have Your Say website in late 2026 or early 2027
To get updates on the plan's development, subscribe to the mail out list by emailing waterresources@nt.gov.au.
Progress of the plan
| Year | Progress |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Funding secured for the plan - accelerating water science and other research for the catchment. |
| 2023 | Professional cross-cultural consultants identified culturally appropriate Aboriginal representation for the water advisory committee. |
| 2024 | Water advisory committee was established. Collectively, the committee members:
The Darwin rural water control district was extended to include the Adelaide River catchment. As a result:
|
| 2025 |
|
| 2026 |
|
| 2027 |
|
Beneficial uses
The beneficial uses of water in the Darwin rural Adelaide River water control district are:
- Aboriginal economic development
- agriculture
- aquaculture
- cultural
- environment
- industry
- mining activity
- petroleum activity
- public water supply
- rural stock and domestic.
Read the Government Gazette PDF (496.7 KB), published 20 June 2024.
Reports and publications
Read:
- Adelaide River catchment water resources assessmentPDF (12.2 MB)
- Adelaide River water quality summary PDF (11.5 MB)
- Adelaide River water resource monitoring report PDF (6.9 MB)
- An overview of baseflow in Adelaide River catchment PDF (34.2 MB)
- Ecological assessment of the Adelaide River catchment PDF (9.6 MB)
- Understanding Adelaide River flow variability PDF (13.5 MB).
Several other studies are also underway to inform the development of the plan and its ongoing implementation. This includes:
- ecological and aquatic health assessments
- Aboriginal cultural water assessment
- water resource and hydrology assessment
- development of hydraulic and hydrodynamic models
- groundwater, surface flows and water quality data collection.
Maps
Contact
If you have any questions about permits or licensing requirements in the area, email water.licensing@nt.gov.au.
For water planning enquiries, email waterresources@nt.gov.au.