Findings present NT’s important water supply is drying – and it may be seen from house

A essential water supply for huge areas of the Northern Territory is drying at an accelerating charge, in response to new findings, with losses clearly seen from house. 

The Cambrian Limestone Aquifer (CLA) is a big, interconnected limestone system containing high-quality groundwater that helps quite a few NT rivers, cities, Indigenous communities, pastoral enterprises, and irrigated agriculture.  

But the findings, revealed in a brand new research led by Griffith University researchers, present the aquifer has skilled vital water loss since 2014, reaching its lowest recorded storage stage in 2021 (the top of the research interval). 

The research attracts on 20 years of information (2002-2022), together with ground-based bore monitoring from the Bureau of Meteorology and distant sensing from a number of satellites.  

Among them, NASA’s GRACE satellite tv for pc – used to trace groundwater depletion globally – detects delicate modifications in Earth’s gravity, indicating how a lot water has been misplaced underground.  

“This is the first time such methods have been applied to the NT,” stated lead writer Dr Christopher Ndehedehe, from Griffith’s Australian Rivers Institute. 

“While CLA water levels remained stable from 2002 to 2013, the research shows a steep decline in both groundwater and surface water features – such as springs and wetlands – between 2011 and 2022.  

The analysis workforce discovered the aquifer was taking longer to recuperate from dry intervals, with drought restoration instances stretching from beneath 5 months in 2014 to over 15 months by 2021.  

This drying development occurred regardless of fewer extreme droughts in the course of the 2011-2022 interval than within the earlier decade. 

“This research used multiple, independent sources of data, and shows that there is a serious risk of over-depletion of one of Australia’s most important aquifer systems if water extraction rates continue to increase”, stated co-author, Professor Matthew Currell from the Australian Rivers Institute. 

“Our findings raise concerns about the sustainability of groundwater regulation in the NT amid rapidly expanding agriculture and gas developments,” Dr Ndehedehe stated. 

“We need improved water regulation, and our findings highlight how satellite-based monitoring can fill critical data gaps to better inform water management strategies.” 

This research follows rising public scrutiny over the way forward for the CLA, as seen within the ABC Four Corners investigation ‘Water Grab’ (August 2025), which spotlighted dangers to rivers, ecosystems, and communities with insights from the Griffith analysis workforce.  

The research ‘Tracking freshwater depletion in Northern Australia: A multi-satellite approach’ has been revealed Ecological Informatics.