A number of major soil groups can be recognised in the Kimberley:

River Catchments
Divertible Surface Water
Fresh Water Resources
Ground Water Resources

River Catchments
The region's climatic pattern provides for very seasonal stream flows in the river catchments. The Fitzroy and Ord River systems and their tributaries are seasonal and irregular. Heavy rainfall and rapid runoff in the catchments produce severe flooding events. The shorter rivers originating in the higher rainfall parts of the northern Kimberley plateau, and flowing north or north west, are less variable.

Divertible Surface Water
The divertible surface water resources provided by these catchments are very large. The Kimberley has 80% of the State's total divertible water resources, with less than 1% currently being utilised. Lake Argyle and the Ord River Irrigation Area account for the major use of this resource.

Fresh Water Resources
All rivers in the region provide fresh water resources, with most having less than 100 mg/L Total Dissolved Solids. There are, however, problems of catchment area soil erosion and water turbidity, with colouring of water and silting of reservoirs the major consequences. High flow variability and high evaporation rates mean that very large reservoir storage is required to maintain supplies over dry periods.

Groundwater Resources
The Kimberley region also has significant groundwater resources, with 29% of the State's total potentially divertible underground water supply. As with divertible surface water supplies, utilisation of groundwater is low at less than 1%. Groundwater resources are not evenly distributed throughout the region, with 87% contained within the sedimentary rock aquifers of the Fitzroy sub-region which takes in the Dampier Peninsula and the Fitzroy and Lennard River Basins. Of the remainder, 5% is contained within the North Kimberley aquifers with 8% in the Ord sub-region incorporating the Ord and Keep River Basins. There are extensive artesian and sub-artesian groundwater reserves in the Canning Basin in the south of the Kimberley.