‘Water isn’t endless’: the controversial plan to extend irrigated agriculture in NT’s tropical savannah

The Northern Territory is home to large tracts of intact savannah ecosystem, free-flowing rivers and a rich biodiversity and there are concerns that extracting large volumes of water may have unforeseen effects. Photograph: Robin Smith/Getty Images

“This is about free water,” says Kirsty Howey of the Northern Territory Environment Centre. “Free water for irrigators. And they’re going to get it.”

Water – how it is managed, who controls it and how much they get – is at the centre of a controversy over plans to massively expand agricultural production in the territory, and ultimately to link it to the huge Ord irrigation scheme across the border in Western Australia.