NTIn ForceAct
Water Act 1992
71BNotice of intention to make water extraction licence decision
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 71B
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Water Act 1992.
71B Notice of intention to make water extraction licence decision
(1) Within 20 business days after lodgement of an application to which
this Part applies, the Controller must give notice of the Controller's
intention to make a water extraction licence decision.
(2) The Controller must publish the notice in the manner the Controller
considers appropriate.
(3) The notice must include the following information:
(a) whether the application is for the grant, amendment or
modification of a water extraction licence;
(b) if the application is for the grant of a water extraction licence –
the following details:
(i) whether the applicant proposes to take the water by
means of extraction, diversion or instream use;
(ii) the name of the waterway from which the water will be
taken;
(iii) the point of the waterway, or the bore, from which the
water will be taken;
(iv) a description of the areas of land on which the waterway
or bore is located and on which the water will be used;
(v) the proposed beneficial uses of the water;
(vi) the maximum quantity of water in megalitres proposed to
be taken annually for each beneficial use;
(c) if the application is for the amendment or modification of a
water extraction licence – the details of the proposed changes
to the licence in relation to any of the matters mentioned in
paragraph (b)(i) to (vi);
(d) any other information, available to the Controller about the
relevant water resource, that the Controller considers relevant
to the application, including the following:
(i) the total quantity of water that currently may be taken
from the water resource under water extraction licences;
(ii) the total quantity of water that currently is taken from the
water resource under water extraction licences;
Water Act 1992 61
(iii) the estimated total sustainable yield of water of the water
resource.
(4) The notice must include an invitation to make written comments
about the application to the Controller, at a specified address, within
20 business days after publication of the notice.
(5) The applicant for the water extraction licence decision must pay the
costs of publishing the notice.
(6) The Controller must give a copy of the notice to the owners of land
immediately adjacent to:
(a) the land from which the water will be taken; and
(b) the land on which the water will be used.
(7) In addition, the Controller must:
(a) use reasonable efforts to identify any occupiers of land
immediately adjacent to the land mentioned in
subsection (6)(a) and (b); and
(b) give a copy of the notice to the identified occupiers.
71BA Agreement required before water extraction licence given in
respect of Aboriginal water reserve
The Controller must not grant a water extraction licence in relation
to an Aboriginal water reserve unless the Controller is satisfied that:
(a) the applicant for the licence is an eligible Aboriginal person for
the eligible land in respect of which the Aboriginal water
reserve applies; or
(b) the applicant for the licence has obtained the agreement of the
eligible Aboriginal people for the eligible land in respect of
which the Aboriginal water reserve applies to apply for the
licence.