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Petition to Watt: Stop Singleton Groundwater Grab

Across the Barkly and Central Australia, groundwater dependent ecosystems function as oases of the desert. The presence of shallow groundwater transforms arid land environments into woodlands and wetlands, which are sites of biodiversity, abundance and climate resilience. 

Groundwater dependent ecosystems also often carry significant cultural values, as sacred sites, meeting places, hunting grounds or places to collect bush medicines or bush foods. 

The future of these groundwater dependent water places is at a crossroads, and we need your help to avoid a Murray-Darling future where too much water is extracted and the Territory's landscapes and communities pay the price. 

 

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Will you sign?

Dear Minister for Water and the Environment, Murray Watt

I am writing to you asking for urgent action to protect the life giving water of the desert. 

Stop the Singleton Station groundwater grab.

Up to a trillion litres of groundwater may be used after 30 years, the equivalent of two Sydney Harbours worth of water. It is the largest groundwater licence in Northern Territory history and one of Australia’s largest groundwater licences for agriculture. Traditional owners and local communities oppose the project The proponent, Fortune Agribusiness, still does not have their environmental approvals.

Singleton is located on Kaytetye Country, 380 kilometres north of Mparntwe Alice Springs, near the remote community of Ali Curung.

The project will have nationally significant impacts to groundwater systems with a 60 kilometre stretch of groundwater dependent habitat at risk of destruction. using 144 bores, the project will lower the groundwater table by up to 50 metres and there are up to 40 groundwater dependent sacred sites at risk. The project sets a dangerous precedent for the types of developments that are permitted and supported in Northern Australia which would not be permitted elsewhere in the country.

We call on you as the Federal Water and Environment Minister, to

  1. Commit the Federal Government to not provide any financial support or subsidy for the project, including any enabling infrastructure at Singleton; and,
  2. Expand the Federal environment legislation to include all projects that have significant impact on water so that destructive projects like these do not slip through the cracks.

Kind Regards,

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