The first of the 2024–25 water year’s scheduled trade openings have completed.
The MDBA Barmah Choke trade opportunity opened for submissions on Monday 1 July 2024 at 8:30 am with a balance of 56,038.7 megalitres (ML) and was manually processed from 10 am until 6 pm. The Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity opened for submissions on Tuesday 2 July 2024 at 8:30 am with a balance of 84,861.90 ML and was manually processed from 10 am until 6 pm.
The Barmah Choke trade opening received a total of 161 trade applications for total volume of 136,528 ML. Of these applications, 87 were made to Victoria, and 74 were made to New South Wales. The new processing protocol (announced Tuesday 26 March 2024) resulted in 31 approved Victorian applications and 29 approved NSW applications.
The Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity received a total of 99 trade applications for a total volume of 235,254 ML. Of these applications, 23 were approved for a total volume of 84,835 ML.
Read more: Release of post-trade opening report – July 2024 trade opportunities
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.
The Victorian Government has listened to the community and is making new information about Victorian water markets available to ensure transparency and to continue to build trust in water markets. From 1 July 2024, the Minister for Water can now include names of individuals in public reports in specific circumstances.
The Minister for Water will publish two reports in January 2025 on the Victorian Water Register website. These are:
Read more: Changes for Water Market Transparency in Victoria
The Goulburn to Murray trade review Scientific Advisory Panel (the Panel) has completed their 2022–23 annual report describing the environmental outcomes from the second year of a three-year environmental monitoring program. The monitoring program is designed to assess the environmental performance of the new long-term Operating Rules for the lower Goulburn River, and to determine whether the rules are working as expected to prevent the kinds of environmental damage seen in previous years due to sustained high flows over summer and autumn.
The wet conditions in 2022–23 resulted in low demand for inter-valley trade (IVT) deliveries. This means regulated flows in the lower Goulburn could be managed within or below the maximum allowed baseflows and pulse limits set by the rules. The largest driver of environmental change during this time period was the major flood event in the Goulburn River in spring 2022.
The July trade opportunity is scheduled for Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 July 2024. See below for essential information regarding the Barmah Choke Application Processing Protocol as well as closing and opening times.
If you require further information about any of the below information, reach out to the Victorian Water Register team on waterregister.support@delwp.vic.gov.au.
Read more: Reminder: Important information for water register trade activity in June and July 2024
Opening allocation trade opportunities under different trade limits are listed below. Closing times are available here.
Monday 1 July 2024
Tuesday 2 July 2024
Within each submission window, water market participants should submit all allocation trade applications through the MyWater and Broker Portals as usual. Each trade application will be queued in the order received by our online interface in the Victorian Water Register.
After the submission window closes, MyWater and Broker Portals will go offline until 6 pm for manual processing of applications. Applicants will receive notifications on the outcomes of trade applications as they are manually processed, by 6 pm on the day submitted. The system will return to its normal operation after 6 pm.
The Victorian Water Register, including MyWater and the broker portal will close for EOY processing at 5 pm 28 June 2024 and will re-open at 8:30 am 1 July 2024.
Important information regarding times and dates for the 2024–25 trade opportunity openings will be provided in late May.
If you are trading allocation or water shares before the end of the water year, please be aware of the important dates and times below.
Read more: Information for application processing for the end of the 2023–24 water year
The Australian Government has announced new requirements for water trades within the Murray-Darling Basin, which will come into effect from 1 July 2024. These obligations will mean that all traders will face the same record keeping rules, regardless of which Basin state they trade in.
While Victoria already requires water traders to accurately provide the price and reason for trades on applicable trade forms, after 1 July 2024, Commonwealth legislation will mandate that water traders across the Basin record the price and reason for applicable trades and keep comprehensive records for a minimum of five years.
These changes are part of the Commonwealth’s actions in line with the Water Market Reform Roadmap, addressing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s inquiry into Murray-Darling Basin water markets. They are also part of a broader suite of water market reform measures outlined in the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 (Cth).
The new rules affect both buyers and sellers of ‘eligible tradeable water rights’, as well as water market intermediaries.
Examples of eligible tradeable water rights in Victoria include water shares, allocations, take and use licence, and place of take approvals.
The Commonwealth’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) have prepared a fact sheet that can be found here (scroll to 'download'). DCCEEW are the lead policy agency for the reforms and any queries can be directed to their Water Markets Team inbox at Water.Markets@dcceew.gov.au.
Read more: New Commonwealth requirements for Murray-Darling Basin water trades
July 2024 – Barmah Choke trade opportunity
The next Barmah Choke trade opportunity will occur on Monday 1 July 2024.
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and WaterNSW have been working together to ensure better equity of access to trade opportunities and a more unified experience for customers from both Victoria and NSW. As part of these efforts, the two states will be implementing a new joint protocol for processing trade applications through the Barmah Choke on 1 July 2024.
From 1 July 2024, the take of all water under tagged water entitlements previously considered ‘grandfathered’ under section 12.23(2) of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan Water Trading Rules will be subject to allocation trade restrictions, consistent with all other tagged arrangements.
The removal of this exemption will occur from 1 July 2024 as amendments come into effect under Federal legislation through the commencement of the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023.
Read more: Removal of the ‘grandfathered’ status exemption for tagged water entitlements
DEECA is excited to announce the release of the new Victorian Water Accounts (VWA) website, with the 2021-22 accounts.
The user-friendly website allows the water sector and all water users to understand how much water is available in Victoria’s 29 river basins and 20 groundwater catchments using interactive graphs, maps, tables, and descriptions.
The VWA report is a trusted and reliable source of public data that provides accountability and transparency on water use and management in Victoria.
The VWA helps water policy and decision-makers make informed decisions about surface water, groundwater and water supply system information at local and state-wide scales.
It’s also a helpful tool for households, irrigators, and large industrial users to learn how Victoria sustainably manages water.
Read more: New interactive Victorian Water Accounts website launches with latest report
The December Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity is now completed. This was the third and final opening for the 2023–24 water year.
Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity opened on Friday 15 December 2023 at 12:00 PM–12:30 PM with an opening limit of about 12.2 GL, and applications were manually processed from 1:00 PM until 6:00 PM. 48 trade applications with a total of 61.3 GL were submitted by 12:30 PM on 15 December.
As part of Victoria’s ongoing commitment to water market transparency, new information about the outcomes of the Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity openings is now public through the post-trade opening report linked below.
Read more: Release of post-trade opening report – Goulburn to Murray December 2023
The next release of seasonal trade opportunity from the Goulburn to the Murray system is Midday 12.00 pm on Friday 15 December 2023. Based on current estimates, approximately 12 GL of Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity will be released.
Read more: Important information – Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity volume for 15 December 2023
The Victorian Water Register MyWater and Broker portal will be offline on Friday 15 December 2023 between 12:30 pm and 6:00 pm.
The next release of trade opportunity from the Goulburn to the Murray system is Midday 12.00 pm on Friday, 15 December 2023. Estimated volumes will be made public closer to this date.
This is the third and final Goulburn to Murray trade openings for the 2023–24 water year. Go here for more information on the Goulburn to Murray trade rule.
For the 15 December 2023 opening, trade applications will continue to be manually processed by each relevant water corporation to manage demand allocation. Automatic processing will not take place. The once-off procedure that applied to Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity applications for the 9 November 2023 reopening will not be used.
Read more: Important information – Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity for 15 December 2023
Victoria’s new ‘place of take approvals’ framework came into effect today, bringing more certainty and flexibility for water users in declared Broken, Bullarook, Campaspe, Goulburn, Loddon, Murray, Ovens, Thomson-Macalister and Werribee systems.
These changes have been introduced in response to increasing delivery risks in the Murray River system downstream of Barmah, where the ‘Barmah Choke’ or ‘narrows’ is reducing in capacity and changing demands for water are making it harder for river operators to deliver water where and when people need it. The new framework ensures clear arrangements are in place for managing delivery risks for all declared systems should they occur in the future.
Read more: New ‘place of take approvals’ framework commences
The October Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity is now completed. This follows the reopening of the trade opportunity on 9 November 2023. Of the total 90 gigalitres (GL) available in the October Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity, 17 GL was approved on 16 October 2023 and 73 GL was approved on 9 November 2023.
As part of Victoria’s ongoing commitment to water market transparency, new information about the outcomes of the Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity openings is being made public through a new post-trade opening report.
Read more: Release of post-trade opening report – Goulburn to Murray October opening
What’s happening and when?
There is a planned outage to both the water register and the supporting website www.waterregister.vic.gov.auto make changes to support the commencement of the Place of take approvals frameworks on 20 November 2023.
Read more: Planned Outage to Victorian Water Register and Website 17 - 19 November 2023
The October Goulburn to the Murray trade opportunity is scheduled to recommence at 12:00 PM (midday) on Thursday 9 November 2023.
Following the system error of 16 October, it has been decided that an altered procedure will take place for the re-opening of the trade opportunity on 9 November.
Read more: Important information – Changes to Goulburn to Murray trade opening on 9 November 2023
The Victorian Water Register MyWater and Broker portal will be offline on Thursday 9 November 2023 between 12:30 pm and 6:00 pm.