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Western Davenport water allocation plan

The plan applies to all surface water and groundwater within the Western Davenport water control district.

It covers 1.82% of the Northern Territory.

Consultation

During the development of the plan, a public consultation was completed.

It gathered feedback from the water advisory committee, stakeholders and the public.

Read more about the feedback and the government’s response in the consultation summary PDF (850.5 KB).

To advise the draft plan, a water advisory committee was established. Read more about the committee and what they consider on the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security website.

Plan objectives

The overarching goal of water sharing is to optimise the benefits to the community.

These benefits are created by the sustainable use of a water resource, within climate variability.

The objectives of the plan are to:

  • balance the retention and preservation of key environmental values dependent on water with the overall benefits provided by the water resources
  • ensure water licence decisions account for Aboriginal and other cultural values dependent on water
  • predict and protect water for rural stock and domestic purposes
  • provide long term security of a sufficient quantity and quality of water for public water supplies
  • set aside water to support local Aboriginal economic development
  • provide access to water to support sustainable development for the benefit of the region.

Beneficial uses

In the water control district, the beneficial uses of:

  • waterways are:
    • Aboriginal economic development
    • cultural
    • environment
    • rural stock and domestic
  • groundwater are:
    • Aboriginal economic development
    • agriculture
    • aquaculture
    • cultural
    • environment
    • industry
    • mining activity
    • petroleum activity
    • public water supply
    • rural stock and domestic.

The Administrator may set other categories and publish a notice in the Gazette.

Read the Government Gazette PDF (192.6 KB) that was published on 3 December 2021 in section 40.

Water resources

The surface water catchments and groundwater systems of the district are interconnected.

Flows from the Davenport Range and southern ranges recharge aquifers in the Central Plains water management zone.

Smaller local aquifers in the Davenport Range and southern ranges are also recharged by surface water flows and local rainfall.

Surface water

Surface water is mostly temporary and not a reliable source for consumptive use.

There are some rock holes and small springs in the ranges that are possibly permanent, which have important environmental and cultural value.

Licences

The plan does not permit surface water extraction licences within the plan area.

Surface water can be used for rural stock and domestic purposes without a licence.

Groundwater

The estimated sustainable yield for groundwater is 67,700ML per year, leaving 153,721,000 ML available for the environment.

Allocations

The water allocation plan identifies 3 groundwater water management zones where an estimated sustainable yield has been established.

These zones include the Davenport Ranges, Southern Ranges and Central Plains.

They represent unique water environments, with the Central Plains featuring higher yielding and better quality aquifers.

The water in these aquifers has been stored for thousands of years and is connected. This means extraction from one aquifer will affect the neighbouring aquifers.

Water resources in the southern ranges and Davenport ranges are limited and expected to be used mainly for stock purposes.

The estimated sustainable yield is the amount of water that can be extracted. This is done while ensuring its meet the needs of environmental and cultural values of the area, depending on the resource.

The table below shows the estimated sustainable yield of each groundwater management zones in the water allocation plan.

Beneficial usesDavenport RangesCentral PlainsSouthern RangesTotal
Rural stock and domestic249279455983
Public water supply3050035565
Aboriginal water reserve for Aboriginal economic development93510,656 - 18,6419019,666
Other consumptive uses - agriculture, aquaculture, cultural, industry, mining activity, petroleum activity2,17343,48480046,456
Environment*10101030
Total allocations
ML/year		3,39762,9141,39067,700

*Nominal allocation within consumptive uses as required under section 22A(2) of the Act. The majority of water retained for non-consumptive uses is to:

  • maintain important ecological functions and
  • for cultural purposes and values of water in the region.

Licences

There are existing groundwater licences in the plan area.

All licences are made public on the water licence portal.

Aboriginal water reserves

An Aboriginal water reserve is established by a plan, with 19,666 ML per year made available for Aboriginal economic development in the plan area.

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.

Control districts