Territory Rivers: Keep 'em Flowing

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Territory Rivers: Keep 'em Flowing Our rivers are the special places that make the Top End lifestyle happen. But they're under threat. Authorised by K. Howey, 98 Woods St Darwin

Great news for the Territory coast: Limmen Bight Marine Park has been expanded.An extra 185 km² has been added to the pa...
12/10/2026

Great news for the Territory coast: Limmen Bight Marine Park has been expanded.

An extra 185 km² has been added to the park, helping protect important habitat for dugongs, turtles, and fish along a remarkable stretch of coast from the mouth of the Roper River south to Rosie Creek.

This is a place where seagrass meadows, reefs and mangroves support marine life, fishing and culture - and where the Marra people have cared for Country for millennia.
This outcome shows what’s possible when communities speak up.

The new Katherine Water Allocation Plan will guide water management in the region for the next decade. It includes some ...
01/10/2026

The new Katherine Water Allocation Plan will guide water management in the region for the next decade. It includes some positive measures, including a river discharge protection zone and a 3,220-megalitre Aboriginal Water Reserve.

However, our partners at the Environment Centre NT raised concerns that the area covered by the plan has been reduced by around 80%. This leaves questions about how extraction from connected water resources outside the new boundary will be assessed, regulated and accounted for.

Groundwater does not follow lines on a map. Water taken outside the plan area could still affect the aquifers, springs and dry-season flows that sustain the Katherine River. These connected water resources need consistent protection and oversight.

IKYMI - Consolidated Pastoral Company has been granted four groundwater licences that allow it to extract up to 15.568 b...
01/10/2026

IKYMI - Consolidated Pastoral Company has been granted four groundwater licences that allow it to extract up to 15.568 billion litres of water per year for cropping projects.

In January, our partners at the Environment Centre NT called for the Newcastle Waters and Tandyidgee applications to be refused or referred for environmental assessment. They raised concerns about scientific uncertainty, inadequate assessment of long-term and cumulative impacts, risks to connected waterways and ecosystems, potential impacts on Marlinja, and insufficient consultation with Traditional Owners.

Despite these concerns, both licences were granted at the volumes applied for.
Why was extraction on this scale approved while significant questions remain unanswered? Territorians deserve transparency about how our groundwater - and the rivers, springs and communities connected to it - will be protected.

Fin out more here:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/nt-country-hour/consolidated-pastoral-company-water-licences-northern-territory/107046806

There are some remarkable - and threatened - creatures living beneath the surface of the Roper River.One is the largetoo...
07/09/2026

There are some remarkable - and threatened - creatures living beneath the surface of the Roper River.

One is the largetooth sawfish, also known as the freshwater sawfish. This ancient fish can move between the sea and freshwater, travelling far upstream into rivers and permanent waterholes.

The Roper and its tributaries also provide important habitat for the threatened Gulf snapping turtle.

On National Threatened Species Day, these remarkable animals remind us that healthy rivers are about much more than water. River flows connect habitats, sustain food webs and provide vital refuge for wildlife through the long dry season.

Protecting threatened species means protecting the places they depend on. If we want these animals to have a future in the Territory, we need to keep the Roper River healthy and flowing.

Image credits - Sawfish: Davide Clode | Snapping Turtle: Faendalimas

03/09/2026

Indigenous Nations-led and governed water organisations representing more than 100 Nations, Peoples and language groups have joined together to call on the Australian Government to deliver a stronger national vision for water reform through the review of the Water Act.

First Nations peoples cared for the Territory’s rivers for countless generations - but too often, this ongoing care and ...
02/09/2026

First Nations peoples cared for the Territory’s rivers for countless generations - but too often, this ongoing care and connection is not reflected in our laws.

The federal Water Act Review is an important opportunity to change this.

The Territory Rivers: Keep ’Em Flowing alliance has made a submission calling on the Federal Government to strengthen First Nations water rights, recognise self-determined governance and ensure Traditional Owners have a meaningful role in decisions affecting their Country.

Protecting the Territory rivers means listening to and sharing real decision-making power with the people who have cared for them since time immemorial.

https://territoryrivers.org.au/why-is-the-water-act-review-important-for-nt-rivers/

Traditional Owners have won a historic High Court battle over one of the largest groundwater licences ever granted in th...
26/08/2026

Traditional Owners have won a historic High Court battle over one of the largest groundwater licences ever granted in the Northern Territory.

After years of fighting, the Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation successfully challenged the licence, which could have allowed up to 40 billion litres of groundwater to be taken each year.

This victory shows the power of Traditional Owners standing up for Country - and why their knowledge, rights and voices must guide decisions about the Territory’s water.

Read more:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-05/high-court-favour-native-title-holders-fighting-nt-water-licence/106998088

18/08/2026

The Roper River is alive 24 hours a day.

As the sun sets, a different world emerges. Ghost bats leave their roosts to hunt, frogs fill the air with calls after rain, freshwater crocodiles patrol the shallows, and fish feed beneath the surface.

While much of the landscape rests, the river continues to provide food, shelter and safe passage for an incredible diversity of wildlife.

Day and night, the Roper is a lifeline - for nature, for culture, and for future generations.



Desert Tree frog recording: Chris Harrison

14/08/2026

The Roper River is a wildlife highway.

As the seasons change, fish move upstream to breed, birds follow the wetlands, flying foxes track flowering trees, and freshwater species rely on connected waterways to survive.

When rivers remain connected from their headwaters to the sea, nature can keep moving just as it has for thousands of years.

The Roper reminds us that every bend, billabong and floodplain is part of something much bigger.

10/08/2026

It all starts here.

The crystal-clear waters of Mataranka and Bitter Springs aren't just beautiful places for a swim - they're where the Roper River begins.

Every day, water that has travelled through deep underground aquifers bubbles up to the surface, feeding the springs before flowing north to become one of the Territory's most important rivers.

What starts as a quiet spring ends up supporting fish, turtles, freshwater crocodiles, birds, communities and culture for hundreds of kilometres downstream.

Looking after these springs means looking after the Roper from the very beginning.

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98 Woods Street
Darwin, NT
0800

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