The Morrison government's failure to activate the so-called "water trigger" when assessing the proposed Adani coal mine in Queensland will be challenged in the Federal Court.

Lawyers acting for the Australian Conservation Foundation will test the government's decision not to refer Adani's North Galilee Water Scheme, a pipeline supplying the mine, for a thorough assessment as intended by the law.

The Suttor River in central Queensland, from which Adani intends to pump water to feed its Carmichael coal mine. Credit:Christine Carlisle

The water trigger, introduced by the Rudd-Gillard government in mid-2013, was meant to require the government to assess the impact on water of all large coal mines and coal seam gas developments.

However, the government treated Adani's plan to draw 12.5 billion litres a year from the Suttor River in central Queensland as a pipeline that was not a "large coal mining development", nor did it involve one.