Ord River Expansion to the NT takes next step
The Northern Territory (NT) Government, in collaboration with the Federal and Western Australian (WA) Government’s will deliver a Detailed Business Case on the Ord River Expansion to the NT (DBC).
The NT Government has received $2.3 million in funding from the Australian Government through the National Water Grid Fund to support the delivery of the DBC.
Developing the Ord River Irrigation Scheme (ORIS) offers the potential to establish a variety of commercial crops which would and support regional economic development.
Earlier this year, a Preliminary Business Case for the Ord River Expansion (PBC) was delivered in partnership with the NT, WA and Australian governments.
The PBC investigated options to expand the ORIS from WA to the NT. Three irrigation expansion options were shortlisted, they include:
- Option 1 - Knox Channel and Lake Kununurra Pipeline: this option delivers peak irrigation demand during the dry season and minimises on-farm storage and enables additional agricultural land to be developed in WA, as well as the NT.
- Option 2 - Duplication of the M1 Channel located in Stage 1: this option delivers peak irrigation supply to the farm gate during the dry season, which minimises on-farm storage. This would ensure peak supply for the proposed irrigated agriculture development in the NT whilst maintaining agreed supply to existing farmers.
- Option 3 - Channel with off-scheme storage: this option proposes supplying on-farm water demand using off-peak capacity of the existing ORIS, drawing water during the wet season for on-farm storage.
The DBC will investigate all three shortlisted option to determine the infrastructure needs for the project to best support the development and diversification on the ORIS.
The Ord River Expansion to the Northern Territory project will be critical in unlocking Northern Australia’s abundant and untapped economic potential.
Find out more and read the Preliminary Business Case for the Ord River Expansion.
