Plans to fast track irrigated cotton growing in the NT receive a surprise boost

The government says 210,000 megalitres of ground water can be sustainably used from a key water reserve in the Georgina Wiso basins.

Water for miners who are drilling and fracking a vast shale gas field in the Beetaloo region said to be one of the world's biggest natural gas fields has been capped at 10,000 megalitres per year.

But water allocated to agriculture totals almost 150,000 megalitres each year.

The plan applies to an area of about 155,000 square kilometres of the Territory including Daly Waters, Elliott and Newcastle Waters - more than double the size of Tasmania.

Pastoral leases on big cattle stations cover 85 per cent of this area.

Today there is "very limited water use in the plan area", mostly used for stock and domestic needs on stations.

The NT is one of the only jurisdictions in Australia which does not charge users for water.

The government this year released an agribusiness strategy which sets a target of 100,000 hectares of broadacre cropping by 2030.

The water allocation report said "potential irrigated agriculture development opportunities" had been identified across 52,000ha of suitable land with a further 25,000ha "with marginal irrigation development capability".

Although the Territory covers one sixth of the Australian continental landmass, only 43 per cent is used for agriculture which has historically been cattle grazing or horticultural crops like mangoes.

Lease laws will need to be changed to allow clearing for broadacre cropping which many station owners are pushing hard for.

More than 8000ha of the NT was cropped for cotton last year after plantings began in 2019.

The first commercial cotton crops of around 200ha were grown in the 2018-19 season, with 800ha the following year and 4200ha in 2020-21.

That cotton growth is expected to accelerate with the opening of its first gin near Katherine.

At the moment almost all the Territory's cotton is grown using wet season rains and not irrigation.

This plans emphasis on irrigated cotton growing has alarmed environmental groups fearing the impact on aquifers and iconic streams like the Roper and Daly rivers.

In releasing its water allocation plan for the Georgina Wiso basins in the past week, the government said the plan retains water for environment and cultural uses and allocates 210,000 megalitres of water for public drinking water supplies and for development.

The government's scientific research into the Cambrian Limestone Aquifer says it is the "most extensive groundwater resource in the Territory", storing 740 million megalitres.

The Murray Darling Basin's biggest storage, Dartmouth Dam, holds four million megalitres.

"The amount of water allocated is less than the replenishment rate and means that during the eight year life of the plan the aquifer storage will continue to increase," the Environment, Parks and Water Security Department said.

The department's water resources division executive director Amy Dysart said the allocation plan was produced to meet the recommendations of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory.

It was this inquiry which allowed the controversial gas exploration of the Beetaloo to continue.

"The plan ensures water is prioritised for the environment and cultural purposes and determines how water is shared between beneficial uses," Ms Dysart said.

The NT's peak conservation body Environment Centre NT said the plan outlined the largest single water allocation in the NT's history.

Eighteen water experts from across Australia wrote to the NT Government last year worried about the granting of water licences.

Environment Centre executive director Kirsty Howey said the plan was a "terrible decision" which she also called "reckless and dangerous".

"Despite community and scientific outcry, the NT Government is forging ahead, intent on handing out free water to its mates in the fracking and cotton industries at a gobsmacking rate, sacrificing communities and our precious free-flowing rivers in the process."

The government's plan is available here.