Engaging Territorians: improving water planning

The Northern Territory (NT) Government welcomes the release of a new report from Watertrust Australia that discusses opportunities to improve water planning in the Northern Territory.

Watertrust is an independent organisation that works with water planning stakeholders, aiming to improve confidence in the decision-making process for fair water outcomes.

Last year, Watertrust was invited into the planning process for the Western Davenport water allocation plan to act as an independent facilitator by the water advisory committee and the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment. They worked closely with the water advisory committee, running workshops and participating in meetings.

Following this, Watertrust have offered their thoughts on actionable improvements for advisory committees involved water allocation planning in the NT as captured in their 2025 report: Lessons learned: Collaborative water allocation planning in the Northern Territory - Western Davenport case study.

The NT Government is committed to the continuous improvement of community involvement in water planning. To this end, the department has identified further actions for implementation - many of which have already been put into place. These actions include:

• the standardisation of department administrative processes to improve efficiency and consistency
• the release of the Engaging Territorians PDF (543.9 KB) water resource management statement that highlights the community engagement mechanisms government employs in water planning, including water advisory committees, peak bodies and interest groups and public forums
• clarification of the foundations of water advisory committees, including the principles of their formation, operation and management
• increased transparency and access to information in the water planning decision-making process, with the Northern Territory Government website as a key platform for sharing information with the public.

These actions contribute directly to priority action 10 in the Territory water plan, ‘improved water planning’. In addition to this, a core component of the Territory water plan is empowering Territorians to participate in water management, to build community trust and confidence, and foster a shared understanding.

To read the NT Government’s official response to the report, outlining actions and future opportunities in water planning in the Northern Territory, read The progress towards engaging Territorians - improving water planning PDF (268.9 KB).