Goulburn-Murray water trade: 229 water trades net $10m premium

The new randomised ballot has allowed 229 irrigators, water corps and environmental holders to trade 100,000ML between valleys last week.

Getting water out of the Goulburn and into the Lower Murray Valley, where it can be sold to almond growers, has earned 229 traders a $100 a megalitre pemium.

The shift from fast-finger water trading to a randomised ballot allowed 229 irrigators, water corporations and environmental water holders to shift 100,000 megalitres out the Goulburn and into the Lower Murray valley last week.

When trade opened in July 2024, 23 allocation trades were approved within just a few seconds under the Goulburn-to-Murray inter-valley trade limit, of which 21 went to brokers with high-speed internet and access to a specialised portal.

But this year anyone wanting to trade water had a seven-hour window to lodge their applications last Wednesday, which were then selected using a randomised ballot.

A total of 439 applicants lodged bids to trade out 195,000ML, of whom 229 were successful in getting 100,000ML from the Goulburn and into the Lower Murray, where they could earn a $100/ML premium.

The list of approved trades shows environmental water holders got 20,000ML of their Goulburn water allocations into the Lower Murrray, while water corporations pushed through another 6900ML.

Australian Water Brokers Association vice-president Craig Feuerherdt said the randomised ballot was obviously more equitable, but raised concerns at the impact of environmental water holders choking the IVT.

“The environment takes away supply (to Lower Murray irrigators), by putting it though the IVT,” Mr Feuerherdt said. “They (environmental water holders) should be purchasing the entitlement where they want to use it.”

The Victorian Water Register shows that last month the federal government purchased 13,114ML of Goulburn water shares from Duxton Water for $4810/ML.

It means that instead of buying Lower Murray River entitlement at more than $8000/ML, the federal government can buy cheaper Goulburn entitlement and then push it through the IVT openings.

Victorian Farmers Federation water council chair Andrew Leahy questioned why state and federal government environmental water holders were “taking up 20 per cent of the trading space”.

Analysis of last week’s Barmah Choke IVT opening of 39,000ML, shows Victorian applicants succeeded in getting about 16,000ML through, with NSW applicants picking up the remainder.