Trade reports
Water Market Trends
The Water Market Trends – Updated Trends in Northern Victoria Water Trade 2001–2024 report shows trends in how water share holders, irrigators and others have used the Victorian water market. This includes how they access water, manage risks, and trade between people and places.
Water Market Trends – Updated Trends in Northern Victorian Water Trade 2001–2024 (1.99 MB)
This is an update to the previous Water Market Trends report released in March 2019. It analyses data from the Victorian Water Register on trends in the northern Victorian water market since 2001, with a focus on changes and new trends observed since 2018–19. As the report covers a long period from the Millennium Drought through multiple wet and dry years to 2024, it provides valuable insights into water market behaviour through a variety of climate conditions.
Copies of previous Water Market Trends Reports are available below. They provide a ‘point in time’ snapshot of our understanding of market behaviour in 2015 and 2018.
PDF: Water Market Trends – Updated Trends in Northern Victorian Water Trade 2001–2018 (1.27 MB)PDF: Water Market Trends – Trends in Northern Victorian Water Trade 2001–2015 (5.6 MB)
Five fact sheets were produced for the 2018 report. They provide simple and accessible information from the report on specific topics, including how entitlements are owned and water is being used in northern Victoria, the key factors influencing the price of water allocation on the market, how irrigators sourced their water, and carryover and how entitlement holders were using it.
PDF: Water Market Trends Fact Sheet 1 – Ownership of Water Entitlements (117 kb)
PDF: Water Market Trends Fact Sheet 2 – Water use in Northern Victoria (119 kb)
PDF: Water Market Trends Fact Sheet 3 – Allocation Prices, Supply and Demand (147 kb)
PDF: Water Market Trends Fact Sheet 4 – How are Irrigators Sourcing Water (123 kb)
PDF: Water Market Trends Fact Sheet 5 – Carryover and Who is Holding It (182 kb)
Water Market Effectiveness
The first statewide review of the effectiveness of Victoria’s water markets has now been completed as part of the Victorian Government’s commitment under action 9.3 of Water for Victoria. This review covered all Victorian water markets, including the northern, southern and western regulated surface water markets; unregulated surface water markets; and, groundwater markets.
This first review was conducted by independent consultants (Aither, with DG Consulting) in collaboration with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and a wide variety of stakeholders including water resource managers and market regulators (both state and Commonwealth); urban and rural water corporations; environmental water managers; Traditional Owner representatives; various industry representatives; and individual irrigators.
The independent report is accompanied by a short document which summarises the findings from the review and the next steps the Department will be taking to improve the effectiveness of water markets across the state.
PDF: Effectiveness of Victoria’s Water Markets (February 2018) (926 kb)PDF: Victorian Water Market Effectiveness – Findings and Actions from the 2017 Review (April 2018) (947 kb)Through this review, Victoria is continuing to demonstrate leadership in the active monitoring and development of water markets to make sure that they continue to work efficiently, with effective governance frameworks and trading rules in place to protect existing entitlement holders and the environment.
In addition to this first review of the effectiveness of Victoria’s water markets, two additional reports are now also available on the history and development of water markets in Victoria. These reports on Early Trends in Groundwater Trade in Victoria and The Evolution of Surface Water Markets are part of the Government’s commitment to improving information on water market trends and to improve confidence and understanding of water markets through greater transparency.
PDF: Early Trends in Groundwater Trade in Victoria (October 2017) (1.8 MB)PDF: The Evolution of Water Markets (August 2016) (1.9 MB)Victorian Water Trading Annual Report
The Victorian Water Trading Annual Report provides an annual summary of Victorian water trade information. It provides data from the Victorian Water Register on trades of allocation, water shares, and take and use licences. Both the 2023–24 and 24–25 reports were released in December 2025. These new-look reports are more succinct than previous reports and are designed to more concisely summarise annual data.
Copies of the Victorian Annual Water Trading Report for each year since 2007 are available below.
PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2023–24 (2.0 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2022–23 (2.98 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2021–22 (3.3 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2020–21 (11.6 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2019–20 (2.3 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2018–19 (3.2 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2017–18 (2.3 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2016–17 (3.4 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2015–16 (5.6 MB)PDF: Victorian Water Trading – Annual Report 2014–15 (2.2 MB)PDF: Victorian Annual Water – Trading Report 2013–14 (1.5 MB)PDF: Victorian Annual Water – Trading Report 2012–13 (1.5 MB)PDF: Victorian Annual Water Trading Report 2011/12 (1.9 MB)PDF: Victorian Annual Water Trading Report 2010/11 (431 kb)PDF: Water trade in Victoria 2009/10 (401 kb)PDF: Water trade in Victoria 2008/09 (718 kb)PDF: Water trade in northern Victoria 2007/08 (186 kb)Water Supply and Demand Reports
Victoria has released a new independent report by water market experts Aither, updating estimates of water availability and horticulture demands in the southern Murray-Darling Basin.
The updated report has been developed in close collaboration with the New South Wales and South Australian governments, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and industry experts to provide an up-to-date understanding of how horticultural water demands are changing.
The new report builds on analysis released in 2019 and 2020 and provides a greater level of confidence in the projected demand estimates through improved data accuracy. An additional baseline water availability scenario (similar to 2019-20) has also been included to make use of the most recent water data.
The report finds there will be increasing challenges for horticultural plantings to meet their water needs in dry years – particularly in the lower Murray region.
PDF: Fact Sheet – Water Supply and Demand in the southern Murray-Darling Basin (2022 Update) (173 kb)Post trade reports
DEECA summerises the outcomes from trade openings and consolidates information into a post trade report. These are made available shortly after Barmah and Goulburn to Murray trade openings. They provide insights into the number, volumes and reasons for trade for all applications submitted.
PDF Goulburn-to-Murray Post Trade Opening Report (December 2025) (1.7 MB)PDF: Goulburn-to-Murray Post Trade Opening Report (October 2025) (1.75 MB)PDF: Post Trade Opportunity Opening Report (July 2025) (4.2 MB)PDF: Goulburn to Murray Post Trade Opportunity Opening Report (December 2024) (1.2 MB)PDF: Goulburn to Murray Post Trade Opportunity Opening Report (October 2024) (1.3 MB)PDF: Goulburn to Murray and Barmah Choke Post Trade Opportunity Opening Report (July 2024) (1.2 MB)PDF: Goulburn to Murray Post Trade Opportunity Opening Report (December 2023) (958 kb)PDF: Goulburn to Murray Post Trade Opportunity Opening Report (October 2023) (1.4 MB)
Since the introduction of randomised trade processing in October 2024, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has participated in Victorian trade openings as an independent observer of the randomisation process for each opening. Following the completion of trade processing, they attest in a written statement whether the process was undertaken correctly, with no interference observed. These statements can be found below.
PDF: ACCC Statement – Goulburn-to-Murray (December 2025) (125 kb)PDF: ACCC Statement – Goulburn-to-Murray (October 2025) (125 kb)PDF: ACCC Statement – Barmah (July 2025) (107 kb)PDF: ACCC Statement – Goulburn to Murray (July 2025) (108 kb)PDF: ACCC Statement (December 2024) (147 kb)PDF: ACCC Statement (October 2024) (144 kb)
Other Water Trade Reports
The report Water Trading in Northern Victoria 1991/92 – 2005/06 (DSE 2008) draws together data to describe activity in Victoria’s water market over a 15-year period since trade was enabled.
PDF: Water Trading in Northern Victoria 1991/92–2005/06 (1.5 MB)PDF: Water Trading in Northern Victoria 1991/92–2005/06 – Appendices A and B (511 kb)PDF: Water Trading in Northern Victoria 1991/92–2005/06 – Appendix C (1.8 MB)PDF: Water Trading in Northern Victoria 1991/92–2005/06 – Appendices D and E (137 kb)The Value of Water: A Guide to Water Trading in Victoria was published in 2001. It explains how water trading developed since its origins, the benefits and hazards, the influences and participants, and the reasons behind various rules. It covers special situations like trade between States.
PDF: The Value of Water – Table of contents and Part 1: Overview of the Water Market (2.9 MB)PDF: The Value of Water – Part 2: Influences and Participants (1.4 MB)PDF: The Value of Water – Part 3: The Regulatory Framework (1.8 MB)PDF: The Value of Water – Part 4: Special Situations (1.2 MB)PDF: The Value of Water – Part 5: Where the Market is Heading, and Concluding Comments (1.8 MB)