Ord River expansion to the Northern Territory
The project aims to expand the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) into the Northern Territory (NT) by facilitating the delivery of water from Western Australia (WA), Lake Argyle, into the NT to support agricultural development and grow the economy in northern Australia.
Having a reliable water supply will help:
- attract private investment and create new jobs
- support agricultural enterprises to deliver economic returns, which will flow to local and regional economies through increased demand for agricultural inputs, downstream processing and supply chains
- boost development in the NT, WA and nationally.
Land identified for farming
Two areas of land were identified for agricultural development, ie Portions 1584 and 3221, part of the Spirit Hills Pastoral Lease, have been considered for large scale irrigated agricultural development since the 1990s.
To help develop this land for agricultural purposes, a preliminary business case was prepared to explore ways of expanding the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and supplying water from Lake Argyle in WA to the NT. Three irrigation expansion options were identified in the preliminary business case.
This work is part of a national water project funded by the Australian Government.
The NT and WA Governments worked together to prepare the preliminary business case.
Read the preliminary business case PDF (1.8 MB).
Detailed business case
In July 2024, the Australian Government announced $2.3 million in funding to develop a detailed business case for the project.
This next step will look at the 3 options identified in the preliminary business case and determine which is the best way to bring water across the WA and NT border to support irrigated agricultural development on NT Portions 1584 and 3221.
It will also study the economic benefits and how the project could help grow the region.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) will lead this work, with support from the WA and Australian Governments.
For more information, go to the National Water Grid website.
More information
To find out, call DAF on 08 8999 5363 or email agribusiness.development@nt.gov.au.