Katherine water allocation plan

Current plan	Katherine water allocation plan 2026–2036 PDF (2.2 MB) Katherine background report 2026–2036 PDF (4.2 MB) Katherine implementation actions 2026–2036 PDF (1.7 MB)
Key messages	FAQ - Managing water in and around Katherine PDF (2.1 MB)
Map	Katherine water allocation plan area map PDF (1.2 MB)
Area	1,176 km²
Declared	11 August 2026 - read Government Gazette S67 PDF (200.9 KB)
Duration	10 years
Review	5 years
Expiry	10 August 2036
State of the water resource	State of the Water Resource - Katherine 2024–2025 PDF (713.6 KB) State of the Water Resource - Katherine 2023–2024 PDF (648.0 KB) State of the Water Resource - Katherine 2022–2023 PDF (714.1 KB)

The plan

The plan applies to a 1,176 km²area within the Daly Roper Beetaloo water control district, about 300 km south of Darwin. It includes the town of Katherine and the Rockhole community.

It covers 0.09% of the Northern Territory (NT) and 0.36% of the Daly Roper Beetaloo water control district.

The Tindall Limestone Aquifer (TLA) is the main aquifer in the plan area. It is part of the larger Cambrian Limestone Aquifer, which covers about 160,000 km² of the NT.

The plan manages groundwater of the Tindall Limestone Aquifer and dry season river flows from the Katherine River, known collectively as the Katherine water resource. The Katherine water resource includes:

groundwater discharge from the Tindall Limestone Aquifer to the Katherine River between the Ironwood and Wilden gauging stations, up to the Oolloo plan boundary
groundwater in the Tindall Limestone Aquifer within the catchment of the Katherine River, excluding the catchments of Dry River and Durrinyan Creek.

Consultation

Consultation was carried out in late 2025 and early 2026 to inform the draft plan.

This included:

feedback from the Daly River Water Advisory Committee
targeted stakeholder engagement
a 4-week public comment period from October to November 2025.

Read more about the feedback and the government’s response in the consultation summary PDF (1.4 MB).

The water advisory committee provided advice and recommendations to the department on the development of the water plan. Read more about the Daly River Water Advisory Committee.

Plan objectives

The plan has five water sharing objectives that set the high-level strategic direction for management of the water resource.

Maintain water quality and availability to support environmental values and beneficial uses.
Ensure Aboriginal people can contribute to water resource management to support their cultural values, practices and responsibilities to Country.
Recognise and support the community’s cultural and social connection to water, rivers and springs.
Safeguard long-term water security for current and future generations through adaptive and informed management.
Maximise water availability to enable regional economic development.

For more information about plan objectives and outcomes read, the Katherine water allocation plan 2026–2036 PDF (2.2 MB).

Beneficial uses

The beneficial uses within a water control district are declared by the minister under the Water Act 1992.

They apply to the use of surface water and groundwater within the district.

The beneficial uses of water in the Daly Roper Beetaloo water control district are:

rural stock and domestic.
public water supply
environment
Aboriginal economic development
agriculture
aquaculture
cultural
industry
mining activity
petroleum activity

Read the Government Gazette PDF (515.6 KB) that was published on 19 October 2022.

Water resources

In this region, groundwater and surface water are strongly interconnected. Together, they are called the Katherine water resource.

Groundwater contributes to important dry season river flows in the Katherine River and associated springs as a result of discharge from the Tindall Limestone Aquifer.

Surface water

Water management arrangements in the plan apply to surface water in the Katherine River that comes from the discharge of the Tindall Limestone Aquifer between Ironwood and Wilden gauging stations.

The plan does not apply to surface water wet-season flows.

Allocations

Surface water is allocated to environmental, cultural, rural stock and domestic, agriculture and industry beneficial uses.

Licences

There are current surface water licences for agricultural and industry uses. They are managed as part of the Katherine water resource’s consumptive pool and not under the surface water take - wet season flows policy PDF (579.3 KB).

These surface water licences are treated like groundwater licences and managed in a similar way subject to the same announced allocation conditions.

All licences are made public on the Water Licence Portal.

Groundwater

In the plan area, the TLA extends across 1,176 km². Around 726 km² (62%) of this is unconfined, which means that the aquifer has direct contact with the ground surface. The remaining area of the TLA sits under the Jinduckin Formation and does not have direct contact with the ground surface.

The TLA only receives recharge water where it is in direct contact with the ground surface (unconfined sections). Recharge generally occurs after a significant wet season rainfall.

Where the TLA receives recharge through sinkholes, there is a risk of contamination from the surface.

This aquifer is a cavernous system. Large volumes of water can be stored within the fractures and caverns of the formation. As water flows through, it discharges into many river systems, including the Katherine, Flora, Douglas and Roper rivers.

The fractures and caverns range from sub millimetres to large caves.

Allocations

The Katherine water allocation plan has an estimated sustainable yield of 39,000 ML per year. The table below shows the allocation of water to different beneficial uses:

Beneficial uses	ML per year
Rural stock and domestic	2,700
Public water supply	4,000
Environment*	100
Water for economic development
Aboriginal economic development through the Aboriginal water reserve	3,220
Other uses: agriculture, aquaculture, cultural, industry, mining activity and petroleum activity	28,980
Estimated sustainable yield	39,000

*This amount is allocated to the environment to meet the requirement in section 22B(6) of the Act. This water is not extracted and is retained in the environment to maintain ecological functions and environmental values in the region. This volume is additional to the volume of water that remains in the water resource and cannot be taken.

Licences

The average water use in the plan area from 2020 to 2024 was 11,528 ML. Water is available for economic development. There are three ways to apply for water:

apply for a new licence from the general pool
apply for a new licence from the Aboriginal water reserve
trade water with an existing licence holder within the Katherine water resource

All licences are made public on the Water Licence Portal.

Aboriginal water reserves

An Aboriginal water reserve is established under the plan.

The volume of water is equal to 10% of the estimated sustainable yield remaining after water is allocated for public water supply and rural stock and domestic use.

The volume of water allocated to the Aboriginal water reserve is 3,220 ML per year.

Katherine designated eligible land for Aboriginal Water Reserve (AWR) PDF (1.2 MB)