The July 2026 Victorian trade openings have been completed successfully.
On Wednesday 1 July 2026, the Broken Trade Out and NSW to Vic trade opportunities opened at 12 pm on a first-in, first-served approach with automated processing of applications.
The Register was then opened on Thursday 2 July for Barmah and Goulburn-to-Murray trade applications with a submission window between 7 am and 2 pm. The trade applications were processed the following day on Friday 3 July 2026.
Key statistics
Barmah Narrows Trade Opening
DEECA and WaterNSW undertook a joint randomisation process to determine the processing order for eligible Barmah applications.
- The Murray-Darling Basin Authority made 24,121.3 megalitres (ML) of allocation trade opportunity available from above to below the Barmah Narrows.
- In total, 214 eligible trade applications were received for a volume of 67,445.2 ML.
- 62 trade applications were successful for a volume of 24,102.4 ML.
- 152 trade applications were unsuccessful for a volume of 43,342.8 ML.
Victoria:
- 136 eligible trade applications were submitted in Victoria for a total of 31,253.1 ML.
- 33 trade applications from Victoria were successful for a total of 8,884.2 ML.
- 103 trade applications from Victoria were unsuccessful for a total of 22,368.9 ML due to insufficient Barmah opportunity.
New South Wales
- 78 eligible trade applications were submitted in NSW for a total of 36,192.1 ML.
- 29 trade applications from NSW were successful for a total of 15,218.2 ML.
- 49 trade applications from NSW were unsuccessful for a total of 20,973.9 ML due to insufficient Barmah opportunity.
Goulburn-to-Murray
- The volume of allocation trade opportunity made available was 112,827.9 ML.
- In total, 286 eligible trade applications were received for a volume of 119,285.3 ML.
- 282 trade applications were successful for a volume of 112,555.3 ML.
- 4 trade applications were unsuccessful for a volume of 6,730 ML.
Victoria will release a comprehensive post-trade report covering both the Barmah and Goulburn-to-Murray trade openings. The report will be released on the Victorian Water Register website.
Why was less than 1,500 ML available when the Broken Trade Out Limit opened?
As previously communicated, trade is allowed when the Broken system’s intervalley trade (IVT) account owes less than 1,500 ML to the Goulburn system.
The Northern Victoria Resource Manager reported on 1 July 2026 the Broken system owed around 1160 ML to the Goulburn system from water in the Broken Inter-Valley Trade (IVT) account that was not delivered in 2025–26. Therefore, only around 340 ML of opportunity could be made available on 1 July.
Trading opportunities may increase later in the season when water is delivered from the IVT account or if trade occurs back into the Broken system.