Key Facts

Singleton Station is the site of Australia’s largest freshwater groundwater licence.

In November 2021, private business, Fortune Agribusiness, was granted a groundwater licence to extract up to 40 billion litres of water staged over 30 years for irrigated horticulture at Singleton Station, 400 kms north of Mparntwe Alice Springs and 30km to the west of Ali Curung community.

Singleton proposes 3,300ha of irrigated horticulture, which will:

• Use up to 40 billion litres of groundwater a year, 
• Use up to a trillion litres of groundwater over 30 years, twice all the water in Sydney Harbour;
• Receive all of its water for free;
• Lower the groundwater table by up to 50 metres
• Lower the groundwater table by at least 5 metres across a 50km stretch of the shallow groundwater landscape, damaging and destroying groundwater dependent trees, soaks, springs and swamps;
• threaten up to 40 sacred sites;
• Bring up to 40,000 tonnes of salts to the surface every year, affecting ‘the long‐term viability of irrigated agriculture in the region’;
• Pay no royalties and very likely be reliant on fly-in, fly-out workforce.

The scale of the proposed water extraction is enormous and will transform the region. This is shallow groundwater Country, and that shallow groundwater is responsible for turning this region into an oasis. Shallow groundwater supports trees, springs, soaks and wetlands to thrive. These habitats are the most biodiverse and climate resilient ecosystems in the arid and semi-arid zone. 

How and why has this project occurred?

1. The Northern Territory's water laws are broken

Singleton groundwater licence is symbol of a dysfunctional and broken system of water management and governance in the Northern Territory. ‘Water law and governance in the NT is amongst the poorest in the country’ (EDO, 2022). This has been repeated by the Productivity Commission in their National Water Reform 2024, where the Territory is the only state and Territory where water planning is going backwards. 

2. The Territory Government is taking "the red carpet to the investor" to access water for big agribusiness 

The Northern Territory's economic blueprint the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission Final Report is all about accessing water, gas and minerals to support extractive industries and big agriculture to grow the economy. It is an outdated 20th century economic agenda that places little emphasis on environment, culture and regional communities. This dig it and ship it agenda is about making business easier, increasing access to water and limiting or avoiding scrutiny. 

3. Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan allocates too much water 

Singleton groundwater licence is evidence of industry exploiting this shonky water management system and taking too much water. Territory water laws are not protecting environment, culture or Country. The Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan 2024-2027 allows for 61.5 billion litres to be taken every year within the Central Plains Management Zone. This is too much water which will result in widespread destruction of the landscape. 

4. Territory Government has changed the rules to allow 30 % of the groundwater dependent trees to be destroyed

The Draft WAP promotes a radical approach to the management of trees, soaks, springs and swamps that rely on groundwater below the surface. These ecosystems often carry significant cultural values. This plan allows 30% of the big trees in the landscape that rely on shallow groundwater below the surface to be destroyed

Through Freedom of Information it is known that the development of the Guideline and its 30% rule:

• was largely developed in 1 week in February 2020 where no draft was produced.
• was based on a quick google scholar search;
• has no scientific basis. None of the research that was referred to was relevant to the arid zone and groundwater dependent vegetation. Land clearing guidelines for non-groundwater dependent vegetation in the savanna is not comparable, nor are vegetation retention thresholds  from south-eastern Australia;
• Was deliberately not put to the WAC for consideration by the Department, despite this group developing the previous water allocation plan;
• Was only scrutinised by one stakeholder, which was the industry representative (Fortune Agribusiness) who would benefit from the development of the GDE Guideline;
• When formally finalised by the Department, it was sent to Fortune Agribusiness the day the GDE Guideline was signed off by the Department CEO. This was five months before the GDE Guideline was made publicly available on the Department’s website.

5. Territory Government has gutted the Western Davenport Water Allocated Plan of meaningful content. 

The plan has been gutted of meaningful content. The plan proposes to split the Draft Western
Davenport Water Allocation Plan into three documents:

• Draft Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan 2023-2033 (Statutory WAP);
• Draft Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan 2023-2033 Background Report;
• Draft Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan 2023-2033 Implementation Actions

The structural problem is that Water Act 1992 only applies to the Statutory WAP, which will be the
only plan which is to be gazetted.

Cynically, the statutory WAP has been gutted of any meaningful content that gives assurance or guidance as to how water is to be taken safely. This includes a failure to have objectives that protect ecological and cultural values, the removal of considerations of risk and uncertainty out of the statutory WAP, the removal of the implementation and monitoring plans from the statutory WAP and the removal of the adaptive management framework out of the statutory WAP.

The Water Controller in making water licensing decisions does not need to consider the Background Report or Implementation Actions, and these may be varied. What remains is an empty document that backflips on commonsense and hard fought protections for ecological and cultural values.

6. Water Allocation Plans in the Northern Territory are non-binding and may only need to be "taken into account"

Big implication of ALEC's unsuccessful Court Case in the Northern Territory Supreme Court is that the power and utility of water allocation plans has been significantly eroded. Nationally, water plans are meant to be legally binding. However the decision, outlined that water plans in relation to licencing decision only need to be "taken into account" not complied with. 

Click here for more details on the Singleton Water Licence FAQ's 

Put simply the Singleton Water Licence is too big to be sustainable. ALEC is campaigning to stop this by taking the NT Government to court, please consider supporting our work.