Water trading opens opportunities in Barron catchment

Since the introduction of water trading in the Barron catchment 1,000 megalitres of water worth more than $760,000 has been traded, Natural Resources and Water Minister Craig Wallace said today.

Mr Wallace said permanent trading of water allocations in the Barron started in June last year, following the commencement of the Barron Resource Operations Plan.

“Water trading is the voluntary buying and selling of water allocations, at a price determined by the market,” Mr Wallace said.

“This means that water allocations and land can be sold separately.”

Mr Wallace said water trading was introduced in the face of increasing competition for the limited and variable resource to help provide access to water for a variety of water users.

“Since its introduction in the Barron, landholders have traded 19 water allocations in the catchment.

“Water trading has the potential to benefit individual water users and the wider community by allowing water to be voluntarily transferred to others for higher value uses.”

For example, a water allocation being used for a low value irrigation crop could be transferred to a person to use for a higher value crop such as olives or macadamias.

Other benefits include:

·Makes the value of water more transparent

·Encourages improved water use efficiency

·Introduces flexibility to water users and

·Allows new industries to develop without affecting other water users or the environment.

“Permanent water trading has been operating in parts of Queensland since 2003, and will be introduced in other areas following a catchment-wide water resource planning process,” Mr Wallace said.

“These plans include rules to prevent trading activity impacting on the environment and other water users.

“Since the introduction of water trading in Queensland, almost 40,000ML with a value of over $30 million has been permanently traded between water users,” Mr Wallace said.

Media inquiries: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace’s office, on 0407 692 654.