Proposed changes to the Goulburn to Murray trade rule
Victoria Government is proposing changes to the Goulburn to Murray trade rule, to ensure that water traded from the Goulburn to the Murray can be delivered without impacting on the environment or the reliability of other entitlements.
The current rule allows trade to the Murray when the balance of the Goulburn IVT account is less than 200 GL, however, Government has proposed three possible alternative trade rule options,
these are:
An annual cap
An annual cap would set a limit to the volume of water that can be traded out of the Goulburn system each year that is the same under all seasonal conditions. A key challenge of this option is defining the limit and the appropriate volume of trade.
Dynamic rule
A dynamic trade rule would be a two-part rule. The first part would work in a similar way to the current rule allowing trade within an IVT limit that can be drawn down as water is delivered early in the irrigation season. The second part would work in a similar way to the annual limit to set a cap on tradeable volumes for the rest of the year based on what can be delivered.
Seasonally-based rule
The seasonally-based rule would be a two-part rule based on seasonal flows in the lower Goulburn River. The first part would be the ability to use water from a tagged account form the Goulburn to Murray during spring, late autumn and winter when the delivery of traded water does not have negative impacts on the environment. The second part would work in a similar way to the annual limit to set a cap on tradeable volumes for the rest of the year based on what can be delivered.
A consultation paper has been prepared to explain how operational rules interact with rules on water trading, download full consultation paper.
Consultation is open for feedback into which trade rule option would be most supported.
Submit written feedback to water.markets@delwp.vic.gov.au or complete the survey by 22 April 2020.