Water supply and horticulture demand in the southern Basin - 2022 Update
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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.
Read more: Water supply and horticulture demand in the southern Basin - 2022 Update
Victorian Water Register offline Thursday evening March 16, 2023
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The Victorian Water Register is undergoing planned works and consequently, the entire water register system will be offline between 6:00pm and 8:00pm on Thursday March 16, 2023.
Read more: Victorian Water Register offline Thursday evening March 16, 2023
Annual Victorian Water Trading Report 2021-22
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The release of the Annual Trade Report for 2021–22 report continues the Victorian Government’s commitment to ensuring all water participants can easily access water market information.
The Annual Trade Report for 2021–22 highlights that water market prices reflect water availability and water demand. Victorian annual rainfall was above average for 2021-22 as the La Niña event continued into its second year delivering the State’s wettest year since 2016.
Victorian River Murray Shortfall Response Plan published
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Delivering water in the Murray system has always been challenging, and although shortfalls in the Murray below Barmah have been rare, the risk of a shortfall is increasing. A shortfall occurs when water that is allocated and entitled to be used cannot be delivered when and where it is needed.
Jointly Basin state governments and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority are working together to help manage these risks, but we know that delivering water through complex and connected river systems that are changing means the risk of a shortfall can never be managed to zero. That is why it is important to have plans in place.
The Victorian Government is publishing the Victorian River Murray Shortfall Response Plan to guide the effective and coordinated response to a shortfall and demonstrate how we will limit the impacts and consequences for our water users and the community as much as possible.
Read more: Victorian River Murray Shortfall Response Plan published
Change to online trading Thursday 15 December 2022
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MyWater and Broker Portal will not be available 10:30 am to 5:00 pm Thursday 15 December 2022.
To enable trade processing for the 15 December 2022 Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity, the following changes will be implemented.
Read more: Change to online trading Thursday 15 December 2022
Important information – Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity for 15 December 2022
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The next release of seasonal trade opportunity from the Goulburn to the Murray system is 10.00 am on 15 December 2022. This follows the previous 17 October trade opportunity that was cancelled due to the emergency response to flooding across northern Victoria. It will also be the final Goulburn to Murray trade opening of the water year.
It is estimated that approximately 58 GL of Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity will become available at this time. This total includes the volume of trade opportunity that would have been released in October.
Read more: Important information – Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity for 15 December 2022
Important information - changes to Goulburn to the Murray 2022 seasonal trade opportunity arrangements
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The 17 October 2022 Goulburn to the Murray seasonal trade opportunity will not proceed. The volume of seasonal trade opportunity that was due to be made available in October will instead be included with the next release of additional seasonal trade opportunity on 15 December 2022.
Water Register offline 6:00pm – 11:00pm Thursday October 27th
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The Victorian Water Register is undertaking a planned works and consequently, the entire Water Register system will be offline between 06:00pm to 11:00pm Thursday October 27th 2022.
Read more: Water Register offline 6:00pm – 11:00pm Thursday October 27th
Important information - 17 October 2022 seasonal trade opportunity from the Goulburn to the Murray system postponed
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The Goulburn to Murray seasonal trade opportunity opening that was scheduled for 10am on 17 October 2022 is postponed. This is due to the ongoing emergency response to flooded communities and interruptions to power networks across northern Victoria.
A revised date for the Goulburn to Murray October seasonal trade opening will be set for as soon as possible after the current situation has improved.
This means the planned outage to the Broker Portal and MyWater services from 10.30 am to 5:00 pm 17 October 2022 will not take place. All Victorian Water Register online services will be available throughout Monday, 17 October 2022.
Important information – Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity for 17 October 2022
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The next release of seasonal trade opportunity from the Goulburn to the Murray system is 10.00 am 17 October 2022.
It is estimated that approximately 13 - 14 GL of Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity will become available at this time.
The Goulburn to Murray trade rule applies to allocation trade from the Goulburn, Loddon, Campaspe and Broken systems to the Victorian Murray and interstate.
The volume of trade opportunity released on 17 October is based on:
- observed water use in the Torrumbarry Irrigation Area from 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022 relative to the long-term historic average water use from 1 July to 30 November.
- any reduction in the Goulburn reserves, due to spill, that were quarantined at the start of the water year.
Torrumbarry Irrigation Area water use up to 30 September 2022 is around 9.8 GL, which is 11% of the long-term average up to 30 November. These are indicative volumes based on the best available data to date. The trade opportunity on 17 October 2022 may differ slightly from these estimates.
Find out more about how Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity is calculated here.
Read more: Important information – Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity for 17 October 2022
Water Register offline 6:00pm – 11:00pm Wednesday September 21st
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The Victorian Water Register is undertaking a planned works and consequently, the entire water register system will be offline from 06:00 pm to 11:00 pm Wednesday September 21st 2022.
Read more: Water Register offline 6:00pm – 11:00pm Wednesday September 21st
Changes to trade processing for the 17 October 2022 Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity
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The next release of seasonal trade opportunity from the Goulburn to the Murray system is 10.00 am 17 October 2022.
The Goulburn to Murray trade rule applies to allocation trade from the Goulburn, Loddon, Campaspe and Broken systems to the Victorian Murray and interstate.
This trade opportunity is highly competitive – to manage expected demand for the 17 October 2022 opening, there will be some changes to how allocation trade applications are processed.
The key change is that, on 17 October 2022, allocation trade applications will not be processed and approved/refused automatically; instead, all allocation trade applications will be processed manually by each relevant water corporation.
Read more: Changes to trade processing for the 17 October 2022 Goulburn to Murray trade opportunity
Operating Plan for delivery of water from the Goulburn IVT account
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A plan for delivering water from the Goulburn Inter-Valley Trade (IVT) account to the Murray in 2022-23 has been released to support implementation of the long-term operating and trade rules introduced on 1 July 2022.
The Goulburn Operating Plan for 2022-23 has been developed by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and Victorian river operators, and the Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning.
The plan outlines the principles and responsibilities for decision making for the delivery of water from the Goulburn Inter-Valley Trade (IVT) Account to the Murray system in 2022-23. The plan considers seasonal conditions and recognises the sustainable operating limits for summer and autumn set out in the Operating Rules for the lower Goulburn River. The operating plan also includes an operating outlook for the planned delivery of water from the Goulburn IVT account under possible climate and inflow scenarios in 2022-23.
Read more: Operating Plan for delivery of water from the Goulburn IVT account
Victoria is adopting a new approach to water delivery entitlements in declared systems
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Victoria is adopting a new approach to water delivery entitlements that will empower water users to manage their own delivery risks in declared systems. Changes are due to come into effect by July 2023.
The new approach does not affect anyone’s water shares, it simply clarifies their right (entitlement) to have that water delivered.
The changes will:
- Give water users more certainty about their rights to have water delivered down our rivers and enable more flexibility to manage their own delivery risks.
- Enable the Minister to make rules to cap and allow for the trade of these delivery rights.
- Protect the rights of existing entitlement holders in water systems where delivery risks are increasing.
- Give water users confidence there are strong penalties to protect them from impacts of others taking more than their fair share during any river rationing.
Read more: Victoria is adopting a new approach to water delivery entitlements in declared systems
Ensure your account balance is positive: Zero Tolerance on Water Theft
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Water is a precious and limited resource. It is critical to our economy, environment, and communities. This is why water needs to be managed fairly for all water users.
In Victoria there is a zero-tolerance approach to water theft. This means that anytime an allocation account (ABA) is negative, your rural water corporation will not hesitate to fine or prosecute for serious cases if action is not swiftly undertaken to address the balance.
Rural water corporations are conducting more inspections to detect water theft, including checking customers whose usage exceeded their entitlement in the previous irrigation season. In 2022/23, rural water corporations will increasingly target higher risk areas, particularly where there are high volumes of trades and a history of non-compliance.
Read more: Ensure your account balance is positive: Zero Tolerance on Water Theft
Important information: Updated trade opening times for the Goulburn to Murray Trade Limit and Broken Trade Out Limit
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Victorian Water Register services were taken offline prior to the planned 2:00pm 1 July 2022 trade opening for Goulburn to Murray Limit and Broken Trade Out Limit, due to unanticipated additional load placed on the system at the start of the new water year.
The new opening time for the Goulburn to Murray Limit and Broken Trade Out Limit will be at midday (12:00 pm AEST) on Monday 4 July 2022.
All Victorian Water Register services were restored at 4pm today (1 July 2022). This allowed all other trading to resume, and for access to MyWater, the Broker Portal and API to be restored well in advance of any scheduled trade openings.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the delay to trade opening times. We’ve taken this step to announce a new opening time so that everyone has fair and equal access to market opportunities and has this information available before any trade opportunity under these two limits opens.
Victorian Water Register Outage - EOFY 2021-22
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This is a final reminder that this year the Victorian Water Register will close at midday (12.00 pm AEST) on 30 June 2022 and reopen just 12 hours later from midnight (12.00 am AEST) on 1 July 2022 for the end of year accounting that enables the roll over from the 2021-22 to the 2022-23 water year.
Long-term Goulburn to Murray trade rule to take effect from 1 July 2022
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The Minister for Water Lisa Neville has announced that from 1 July 2022, a new long-term trade rule will come into effect for Goulburn to Murray inter-valley trade. Read the Minister’s announcement here.
This is the final step in the Goulburn to Murray trade review and the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) process. The Victorian Government reviewed Goulburn to Murray trade and operating rules to make sure long-term rules strike the right balance of supporting trade that water users rely on without causing further environmental damage to the lower Goulburn River or increasing delivery risks in the Murray.
The new long-term trade rule matches trade to what can sustainably be delivered from the Goulburn – within operating rules that keep flows lower and more variable over summer and autumn.
Read more: Long-term Goulburn to Murray trade rule to take effect from 1 July 2022
The 2020–21 Victorian Water Accounts, Online Water Accounts and Highlights now available
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The Water Resource Strategy Division is excited to announce that the 2020–21 Victorian Water Accounts (VWA) have been released: Victorian water accounts - Water Register.
This is the 18th report in the series, released alongside new iterations of the Highlights (howmuch.water.vic.gov.au) and the Online VWA (accounts.water.vic.gov.au).
The Highlights explain Victoria’s water entitlement and management frameworks, provide a high-level summary of water availability and use for the water year and illustrate water trends over time.
Read more: The 2020–21 Victorian Water Accounts, Online Water Accounts and Highlights now available
Release of latest Victorian Water Brokers audit reports
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The Victorian Government is committed to increasing water market transparency and actively monitoring water markets to ensure that they continue to operate effectively.
The annual audit of allocation trades submitted by water brokers through the Victorian Water Register’s online Broker Portal is a key component of recognising water brokers that meet government standards and auditing requirements. The audit helps to ensure that brokers meet their obligations to provide transparency of allocation trades and accurate price disclosure to all parties. The audit also evaluates the security of sensitive information and investigates brokers’ knowledge of their responsibilities to their clients.
Read more: Release of latest Victorian Water Brokers audit reports