The Central Land Council has urged the Northern Territory government to stop issuing groundwater extraction licences in parts of Central Australia.

December 14, 2021

A powerful Indigenous land council has urged the Northern Territory government to stop issuing groundwater extraction licences in parts of Central Australia.

The Central Land Council says the water allocation plan for the Western Davenport area, north of Alice Springs, must be reviewed.

“We are very concerned about the risk of over-allocation of groundwater,” chief executive Lesley Turner said on Tuesday.

He said licenses to extract more than 51 billion litres of water per year had already been granted and there was a risk two more would be given to pump out a further nine billion litres.

“If they are also granted, the 60 billion litres that are currently estimated to be available would be almost completely used up,” Mr Turner said.

“This is an unacceptable risk.”

The CLC said the NT water controller should decline the new water licence applications in the interest of the region’s traditional owners until a new plan based on a conservative estimate of water availability was in place.

“Their cultural connections and responsibilities for the plants, animals and sacred sites sustained by this groundwater are very much at stake, as are emerging small Aboriginal horticulture businesses,” Mr Turner said.

The plea comes after a massive horticulture project at Singleton cattle station, about 380 kilometres north of Alice Springs was given the green light in November to extract 40 billion litres of groundwater per year from the same aquifer.

The NT government reviewed the licence after Indigenous groups and environmentalists raised concerns in April over the potential impact of pumping that much water from the aquifer.

An independent panel found the decision to grant the licence was largely correct, however, it suggested some additional licensing conditions.

About 90 per cent of the NT’s watersupply comes from groundwater.