We’re representing our client Environment Centre Northern Territory in a case before the NT Supreme Court to protect the iconic Mataranka Springs and Roper River from excessive water extraction.
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The case at a glance:
- The Mataranka Springs are breathtakingly beautiful and are incredibly important to the Territory and sit at the headwaters of the Roper River, which is home to many significant plants and animals, including the threatened freshwater sawfish.
- Last December, the NT Water Minister signed off on the Mataranka Water Allocation Plan (WAP) which allows the extraction of more than 62,000 megalitres a year from the Tindall Limestone Aquifer. That amount of water extraction is enough to fill more than 24,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
- Yet the plan allocates less than half a percent (30 megalitres) a year to the environment – a figure that does not appear to be based on evidence about what’s needed to sustain these precious ecosystems.
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“Allowing such a massive level of extraction when the system is already losing water and showing clear signs of strain is environmentally and economically reckless.” Kirsty Howey, Executive Director, Environment Centre Northern Territory
