Water resources - Allocation and Use - Northern Territory
Basin and Surface Water Management Area: Victoria River
Introduction
The National Water Reform Framework requires the development of comprehensive systems of water allocations or entitlements, backed by separation of water property rights from land and clear specification of entitlements in terms of ownership, volume, reliability, transferability and, if appropriate, quality. In addition State and Territory agencies are required to undertake formal determination of water allocations or entitlements, including allocations for the environment as a legitimate user of water.
Water use estimates have been derived from a number of different methods including the use of licencing systems, information provided as part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics water account (with provider consent) and other information gathered from the State and Territory water agencies. In some cases water use was assumed to be the same as the allocation. For groundwater systems, it is well known that this assumption is often invalid (e.g. typically where use exceeds allocation significantly).
Options for conjunctive use are also described.
Please note: The tables set out below detailing Level 1 and Level 2 water use categories. The sum of the Level 2 water use volumes will not necessarily equal the total Level 1 water use volumes. This is primarily due to lack of more detailed water use data. However, where Level 2 use = Level 1 use then blank cells in the table does not indicate water use unaccounted for in these categories.
How has water used changed since 1985?
| Use type | 1983-84 surface water use (ML/yr) | 1996-97 surface water use (ML/yr) | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,000 | 1,004 | |
| Irrigation | 0 | 0 | no data |
| - fruit | N/A | no data | |
| - grape | N/A | no data | |
| - system loss | N/A | no data | |
| - sugar | N/A | no data | |
| - other | N/A | no data | |
| - pasture | N/A | no data | |
| - cereal | N/A | no data | |
| - vegetables | N/A | no data | |
| - other crop | N/A | no data | |
| - Cotton | N/A | no data | |
| Urban / Industrial | 0 | 0 | no data |
| - municipal | N/A | no data | |
| - coal | N/A | no data | |
| - domestic unlicensed | N/A | no data | |
| - domestic | N/A | no data | |
| - mining | N/A | no data | |
| - industrial | N/A | no data | |
| - power | N/A | no data | |
| - comercial | N/A | no data | |
| - system loss | N/A | no data | |
| - industrial commercial | N/A | no data | |
| - other | N/A | no data | |
| - recreation | N/A | no data | |
| Rural | 2,000 | 1,004 | -50 |
| - aquaculture | N/A | no data | |
| - system loss | N/A | no data | |
| - other | N/A | no data | |
| - water supply | N/A | 4 | |
| - stock domestic | N/A | 1,000 |
PLEASE NOTE
Changes since 1985:
The data capture and analysis technique used in Review '85 is not available. The mean annual flow computed is about 5% less than that noted in Review '85. The Divertible Yield is about 15% more than that noted in the Review '85 estimates. The difference is attributed to the definition used in this review for NT. The definition used for Divertible Yield is given in the subsection titled 'Divertible Yield' in the NT Technical Report
What are the uses of surface water in Victoria River and to what is it allocated?
| Use type | Diversion Volume (ML/yr) | Allocation (ML/yr) | Diversion: Alloc (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,004 | no data | |
| Irrigation | no data | 0 | |
| Rural | no data | 1,004 | |
| - stock | no data | 1,000 | |
| Urban / Industrial | no data | 0 |
Allocation for each SWMA represents the volume of the management area's surface water resources allocated for use both within the basin and for use in other SWMAs. The volume diverted is the total volume of the SWMA's surface water resources diverted for use both within the management area and for export to other management areas.
What are the sources of water within Victoria River?
| Total use | ML/yr | % |
|---|---|---|
| Surface water - from this area | 1,004 | 15 |
| Surface water - imported into this area | 0 | 0 |
PLEASE NOTE :
Options for conjunctive use:
The potential for joint surface water and groundwater use is low within this management area. The usage is mainly for stock watering and small scale irrigation, and the connectivity between resources would be Policy/Management.
Further information
- Northern Territory Water Resources Assessment 2000 Report
- Northern Territory Water Resources Assessment 2000 Technical Report
- For more information about water and other natural resource issues link to www.nt.gov.au/nreta
- Link to data available for download on the Surface Water Management Areas
- Link to the Map Maker to make a map using this information.
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