HAVE YOUR SAY ON GOULBURN TO MURRAY TRADE RULES
The Andrews Labor Government is getting on with protecting the long-term health of the lower Goulburn River.
Minister for Water Lisa Neville today opened community consultation into the rules that manage the trade of
water from the Goulburn River to the Murray Valley.
A recent review identified that the current rules are not protecting the lower Goulburn River and do not provide a
fair system for all water users to trade water.
Expert advice has noted that unseasonably high flows in the lower Goulburn River is causing environmental
damage – destroying vegetation, river banks and fish habitat.
The community is invited to have their say and help inform changes to the rules to keep flows within
environmentally sustainable limits. These changes are scheduled to be brought in by late 2020.
This is about putting in place strong long-term rules, alongside the operating regime introduced last year to
reduce flows along the Goulburn River to prevent damage to the environment.
The Labor Government also brought all inter-valley trades from the Goulburn system, including water use from
tagged accounts, in line with Basin Plan trading rules.
Face to face public consultation will begin this month and will run until Wednesday, 22 April. People can also
review the government’s proposed trade rule options and provide feedback at engage.vic.gov.au.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Water Lisa Neville
“We’re taking action to put the right rules in place for Goulburn to Murray trade.”
“We’re making sure the lower Goulburn River is sustainably managed to protect its environment and the social,
cultural and economic value it provides for local communities.”
“I encourage the community to tell us what matters to them, and how changes to the Goulburn to Murray trade
rule will affect the way they use and access water.”
Overview
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) needs your input to proposed changes to the Goulburn to Murray trade rule.
Delivering water from the Goulburn inter-valley trade account during summer and autumn to support water requirements of the Murray system has caused significant environmental damage to the lower Goulburn River over the last two irrigation seasons. Victoria is exploring changes to operational rules and trade rules to ensure that water traded from the Goulburn to the Murray can be delivered without unacceptable impacts on the environment or the reliability of other entitlements.
DELWP has prepared a paper for public consultation to help you to understand how operational rules set by environmental thresholds interact with possible changes to trade rules and consider the potential implications of these changes for how water trade occurs in the future.
DELWP encourages you to read the paper and let us know what you think. We have prepared a set of questions to help us gather relevant information from you. Or you can make a written submission, which can be uploaded at the bottom of this page.
Possible alternative trade rule options
The consultation paper describes the current rule and three possible alternative trade rule options. These are:
- Current limit – The current rule allows trade to the Murray when the balance of the Goulburn IVT account is less than 200 GL.
- 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.
Go to https://engage.vic.gov.au/goulburn-murray-trade-rule-review to have your say
