- Contents
- Chapter One Developing the Basin Plan
- Chapter Two Protecting and enhancing
water resources - Chapter Three Delivering water efficiently
and equitably - Chapter Four Using best-practice
financial, management and
governance systems - Financial statements
- Appendixes
- Murray-Darling Basin Commission:
final report - Glossary and Index
MDBA Corporate Plan 2009–2013, Basin Plan Objective 7: Assist the development of an effective and comprehensive water market
Developing an effective water market
Background
‘Rules for the trading or transfer of tradeable water rights in relation to Basin water resources’ are a mandatory component of the Basin Plan. Tradeable water rights include water access rights (including entitlements and allocations — see definition on page 14), irrigation rights and water delivery rights.
The purpose of water trading rules under the Basin Plan is to enable water to reach its most productive use through the development of efficient water-trading regimes that will maximise economic, social and environmental outcomes within the Murray–Darling Basin. Water trading rules must contribute to achieving the Basin water market and trading objectives of the Water Act 2007 (Cwlth).
The trading rules under the Basin Plan will complement water market and charge rules that are set by the Commonwealth Minister for Climate Change and Water. Trading rules, which will be broader in scope than water market and charge rules, will address the removal of barriers to trade, the terms and processes for trading water, the manner in which trade is conducted and the provision of information to enable trading to take place.
Definition: ‘entitlement’ and ‘allocation’
Entitlement
Water users in the Basin hold a legal entitlement, or licence, to a share of the available water. The entitlement usually specifies:
- size (or volume) of the share
- source of the water (e.g. the river, catchment or aquifer)
- category (which can be a combination of priority and purpose).
Allocation
An allocation is the specific volume of water allocated to the holders of water entitlements in a given season. The allocation is often quoted as a percentage of the volume of each entitlement. For instance, a 20% allocation in a particular season allows a water user with a 100 ML entitlement to take 20 ML of water.
Preparing water trading rules
In preparing water trading and transfer rules under the Basin Plan, the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) must obtain, and have regard to, the advice of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
MDBA has continued to provide technical support and input to the ACCC during the 2008–09 year; in addition, MDBA provided information on the historical context of water trade within the Basin. The ACCC released its Water trading rules: issues paper on 6 March 2009 (see <http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/863251>). This is the first step of the overall process for preparing ACCC advice to MDBA on water trading and transfer rules.
Under the ACCC consultation process, stakeholders were given eight weeks to comment on the issues paper. The ACCC is reviewing the comments received with a view to preparing a position paper due for release in September 2009. The position paper will then undergo a public consultation process similar to that used for the issues paper.