On Monday 1 July 2024, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority made 56,038.7 megalitres (ML) of allocation trade opportunity available from above to below the Barmah Choke. As in previous years, there was more demand than supply.

2024 marked the second year that Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) synchronised the timing of the Barmah Choke trade opportunity.

This year, Victoria and NSW implemented a new joint protocol for the processing of trade applications through the Barmah Choke. The new protocol meant that differences in each state’s processing approach and systems no longer influenced a trader’s success in accessing the available Barmah Choke trade opportunity. You can learn more about how the protocol worked here.

Submissions for Victorian traders opened from 8:30 am to 9 am AEST, with processing commencing from 10 am.

Key statistics:

• In total, 161 trades were received for a volume of 136,528 ML.
  
  • 60 trades were successful for a volume of 56,032 ML.
  • 101 trades were unsuccessful for a volume of 80,496 ML.

Victoria:

• 87 trades were submitted in Victoria for a total of 69,013 ML.
  • 31 trades from Victoria were successful for a total of 22,101 ML.
  • 37 trades from Victoria were unsuccessful for a total of 24,439 ML due to insufficient Barmah Choke opportunity.
  • 19 trades from Victoria were unsuccessful for a total of 22,472 ML due to insufficient account balances, some of which were duplicated application.

NSW:

• 74 trades were submitted in NSW for a total of 67,515 ML
  • 29 trades from NSW were successful for a total of 33,931 ML.
  • 45 trades from NSW were unsuccessful for a total of 33,584 ML due to insufficient Barmah Choke opportunity.

Victoria will release a more comprehensive post-trade report following the completion of its other July trade openings, including the Goulburn to Murray trade opening on 2 July. The report will be released on the Victorian Water Register website.