Water Resources Division

The Northern Territory's water resources are generally considered to be under relatively little pressure due to a comparatively small population base and low intensity of land use.

However, this is changing and as the rest of Australia is experiencing immense pressure on its water resources, the largely intact water resources in the Northern Territory are increasingly becoming subject to higher demands.

The Water Resources Division has been set up to implement the primary piece of water resource legislation, the Northern Territory Water Act.

The Act provides for the investigation, allocation, use, control, protection, management and administration of water resources, and for related purposes.

Within the Division, there are a number of branches whose roles are as follows:

• water assessment - provide professional advice on the capability of NT water resources for development, management and protection
• water planning - develop regional water allocation plans for the long term development of water resources in consultation with stakeholders
• water regulation - administer permits and licences, provide advice and assistance to ensure water resource use and development activities are undertaken in accordance with the Water Act
• water monitoring - maintain and operate a network of river and groundwater monitoring sites and data management
• flood forecasting - provide professional advice and information on floodplain management
• aquatic health - provide advice monitor and research the aquatic ecosystem health of the Territory's inland rivers and Darwin Harbour
• drilling services - discover and define groundwater resources across the Territory through water bore drilling and pump test capacity service
• geospatial services - provide spatial data and mapping services including cartography, geographic information services, remote sensing, spatial databases and web mapping systems.