Water Security for Northern Australia program: Ord River Irrigation Area

Project locations: Kununurra, WA

Project partners: Charles Darwin University (CDU)

Project summary and impacts

The Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) is one of four focal nodes within the Water Security for Northern Australia (WSNA) program and supports a diverse and expanding agricultural sector, including melons, mangoes, cotton and broadacre cropping. With continued development occurring across the East Kimberley and proposed expansion into the Northern Territory, the project is focused on balancing agricultural growth with environmental sustainability, water quality protection and long-term water security.

The project is centred on the Keep River catchment, an environmentally significant system that provides habitat for threatened species including the Northern River Shark and Largetooth Sawfish. Research activities are investigating tropical catchment management approaches, agricultural runoff and water quality impacts, and strategies to improve monitoring and management of surface water in the region. The work draws on lessons from tropical catchments across northern Australia and the Great Barrier Reef to inform future planning and sustainable development in the ORIA.

In parallel, the project is exploring the social and economic value of water in the Ord River system, including how water is allocated and managed during dry years and under future climate scenarios. Researchers are working with industry, government and local stakeholders to better understand competing water demands, emerging industries such as green hydrogen, and opportunities to support resilient and adaptable water management frameworks for the region.

Node contact: Dr Dylan Irvine, Outstanding Future Researcher – Northern Water Futures, Charles Darwin University, email: dylan.irvine@cdu.edu.au

 

Background:

This Water Security for Northern Australia (WSNA) program is being delivered through a partnership between the CRCNA and the Northern Australia Universities Alliance.

The WSNA program will develop and implement a series of research projects which address problematic issues which are constraining sustainable water resource utilisation in four key precincts or focal nodes across Northern Australia. These focal nodes are (Gilbert catchment (QLD), Daly River (NT), Ord River Irrigation Area (WA) and Lower Fitzroy catchment (QLD)).

These focal nodes were selected by the CRCNA based on prior assessments and consultation indicating they are likely locations of further water resource development pressure.  In order to develop such a series of research projects, it was first required that the relevant stakeholders in each focal node be engaged in a co-design process.

The four focal nodes were developed through a 5-month engagement phase and now report to regional stakeholder advisory groups: Co-design phase of the Water Security for Northern Australia.