News Latest News Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan released
Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan released
A Draft Water Allocation Plan for Western Davenport Water Control District in the Northern Territory has been released for public comment. The draft Plan will be on public exhibition for 28 days, during which time any comments or feedback is encouraged.
About the Plan
In 2007 a Water Control District was declared for the Western Davenport region. In 2009 the Northern Territory's Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport commenced development of a Water Allocation Plan for surface water and groundwater in the district. The plan will define the rules for the sharing and allocation of this water for the next ten years.
The Western Davenport Water Control District extends over an area of 24 500 square kilometres stretching from Barrow Creek up to the Karlu Karlu/Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve and hosts significant water resources which are starting to be used for horticultural development, in addition to existing pastoral and community use.
The development of a Water Allocation Plan is of vital importance to people in this region who depend on its water resources, as well as critical for the protection of natural assets which maintain Indigenous cultural and environmental values for future generations. It was anticipated that the Water Allocation Plan would be developed following consultation with stakeholders and the local community.
The Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan will include an assessment of:
- water availability from this resource, taking into consideration environmental and cultural water requirements, and community needs.
- sources of future demand, including needs arising from growth in existing and emerging activities including public water supply, pastoral stock and domestic use, horticulture and indigenous economic development opportunities.
- community response to the economic opportunities associated with the use of water from this resource.
Further groundwater extraction licence applications are anticipated for the area's horticultural enterprises in the next decade. Most will be to enable horticultural development on land under licence from Aboriginal Land Trusts. It is also possible that there will be some fodder cropping established on some cattle stations within the WCD. Preliminary indications by stakeholders are that groundwater extraction licence applications could be made for use on both Indigenous owned and pastoral land for up to 35 GL/yr in the next 10 years.
