New water allocation plans revealed in raft of NT environment changes

The Northern Territory government has announced it will release more water as part of two new 10-year water allocation plans. 

The new Western Davenport water allocation plan will allow an annual extraction of 87,700 megalitres (ML) in the region south of Tennant Creek, an increase of 20,000ML/year.

In a separate plan, the Country Liberal Party (CLP) government has also endorsed an allocation of 62,000ML/year from the Tindal Limestone Aquifer in Mataranka, which is double the amount that could previously be extracted.

It also revealed gas project environment management plans will no longer need the NT Environment Protection Authority’s (EPA) approval and proponents will no longer need to provide emissions abatement plans to the NT government.

How the Western Devonport water plan has changed

The Western Davenport region is home to Singleton cattle station, which holds the largest water licence in the territory, and significant melon crops.

The previous Labor government had a draft plan to allocate 87,700ML/year but then in August quietly cut that allocation to 67,700ML/year over three years due to concerns raised by the region’s water advisory committee.

The new Western Davenport plan reverts back to 87,700ML/year over the next decade.

Water Resources Minister Josh Burgoyne said the new plan was based on the “best available science” from his department.

“We are trusting in the science and the science … is that 87,700ML/year, the original declaration, is what is sustainable for that yield,” he said.

Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said the new plan ignored “years of research and consultation” that had gone into the previous government’s plan.

She also hit out at the timing of the controversial announcement, seven days from Christmas “when the CLP thinks no one is paying attention”.

NT Farmers chief executive Greg Troughton welcomed the plan and said the 10-year time frame gave the industry “certainty”.

“It’s going to open up lots of opportunities for people to consider investing in that area,” he said.

Arid Lands Environment Centre policy officer Alex Vaughan said the government was “misleading” Territorians by maintaining that the plan relied on science.

“This has happened without any scrutiny or engagement with the water advisory committee, water experts [or] key stakeholders of the general public,” he said. 

How the Mataranka water plan has changed

Previously there was no plan in place for the Tindal Limestone Aquifer — which discharges into the popular Mataranka hot springs and feeds the Roper River — but 34,000ML/year was allocated to various water licence holders in the area.

NT government data on the water use reported by licence holders suggests slightly less than half that entitlement was used last year.

The new plan does not increase water allocation in north or south Mataranka but releases a further 35,000ML/year for potential water licensees in the remote town of Larrimah.

It brings the total potential allocation from the aquifer to 62,000ML/year, which is double what could previously be extracted.

When the draft plan was released for consultation, water economists and the Northern Land Council expressed fears the increased allocation would impact Mataranka’s thermal springs and the Roper River — both culturally significant sites to traditional owners.

Mr Burgoyne said the plan protected the area because it did not allow more water to be extracted from north and south Mataranka.

“In the north Mataranka area, where you have Bitter Springs, where you have a lot of these sensitive, environmental flows, the water’s fully allocated,” he said.

“There are areas where there is no more allocation as a result of this plan being declared.

“In Larrimah, much further south, there is room for allocation and for industry.”

Northern Land Council (NLC) chair Matthew Ryan described the plan as an “absolute failure” and “completely unsustainable”.

“Both the previous and the current NT government have ignored the voices of traditional owners who have repeatedly said that the health of the Roper River and the springs at Mataranka are at great risk,” he said.

“[This] plan shows the NT government is putting businesses before those who have a cultural obligation to take care of the land.”

Gas approvals, emissions policies scrapped

Mr Burgoyne also announced on Wednesday that gas companies would no longer be required to refer environmental management plans to the NT EPA. 

Mr Burgoyne said the decision was based on advice from the NT EPA chair Dr Paul Vogel.

“This does not remove the NT EPA’s ability to call in any project application for formal assessment, nor does it remove my right to request the NT EPA’s advice for specific proposals,” he said.

Mr Burgoyne said the NT government’s “large emitters policy” would also be scrapped.

The policy previously required gas companies to demonstrate they had an emissions abatement or offsetting plan aligned with the NT’s target of net zero by 2050.

“The territory established the large emitters and gas emissions policies when there were no other policies to regulate greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

“The federal government then introduced a nationally consistent approach to reducing emissions, so now we have tidied up and strengthened our processes.

“These matters are regulated through the Environment Protection Act and the Petroleum Environment Regulations.”

NT Greens MLA Kat McNamara said the changes marked “a huge step backwards” for climate action.

“We need more transparency, not less, if we are going to address the climate crisis,” they said.