Australian Natural Resources Atlas

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Water resources - Overview - Northern Territory


Location map of SWMA Todd River

Basin & Surface Water Management Area: Todd River

Introduction

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There is no major infrastructure or diversions for surface water extraction within this SWMA. This management area is same as the Todd River Basin. About 67% of the SWMA is pastoral leasehold land, 20% is Aboriginal land, and the remaining land is for other uses. About 10% of the land have soils with moderate limitations to agriculture. The management area covers nineteen pastoral leases, and eleven of these leases have more than 70% of their area within the SWMA. The main streams are Todd, Hale, and Illogwa Creek. They all originate in the north of the SWMA, from the mountains within the MacDonnall Range. The southern part of the management area is sand dune country where all the stream flows disappear. Todd and Hale rivers flow every year, but not necessarily the tributaries. The management area is in the arid zone. The mean annual rainfall varies from 100 mm in the south to 220 mm in the north. There is no surface water licensing, and surface water usage is for stock watering.

Vital Statistics:

Area: 59,890 Km2
Total storage volume: no data
Total surface water use: 100 ML/yr
Development category: LOW DEVELOPMENT
Mean annual run-off: 86,000 ML/yr

A four-class classification system was developed to provide a simple method to communicate the status of the use and allocation of Australia's water resources in relation to sustainable water management.

It is important to recognise that adequately quantifying a sustainable flow regime or sustainable yield and consequent operating rules is a complex matter. State, Territory and scientific agencies continue to develop and apply methods and measures for determining sustainable flow regimes and sustainable yields.

This categorisation provides a general guide only. Please refer to the State and Territory Overview and Technical reports for detail on the analysis methods used.

CategoryDevelopment status
1<30% Low development
230 - 70% Moderate development
370 - 100% Highly developed
4100% Overdeveloped

* Water use as a percentage of sustainable flow regime (surface water) and sustainable yield (groundwater)

PLEASE NOTE:

Sustainable Yield:

As this SWMA is in arid zone, the sustainable yield is estimated as 5% of the Divertible Yield. The assumptions, method and basis for estimation of environmental flow are explained in the section titled 'Environmental Flow Requirement' in NT Technical Report.

PLEASE NOTE:

Categorisation:

Categorisation was based on the percentage ratio of Use to Sustainable Yield.

How saline are the surface water resources in the Todd River surface water management area?

Table: Surface water resource by salinity class.

Total Volume, Divertible Yield (ML/Yr)
Total volume (ML/yr), DIVERSION86,000
<500 mg/l (ML/yr)172,000
500 mg/l (ML/yr) - 1500 mg/l (ML/yr)no data
1500 mg/l (ML/yr) - 5000 mg/l (ML/yr)no data
5000 mg/l (ML/yr) - 14000 mg/l (ML/yr)no data
> 14000 mg/l (ML/yr)no data

Major water storages

Table: Major water storage areas:

There were no major water storages reported in this area as part of the assessment

Further Information

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