Since 2008, the Australian Government has been purchasing water for the environment in the Murray-Darling Basin, as part of the Basin Plan.
Between 2008 and 2020, we used a combination of open and limited tenders to bridge the gap to the sustainable diversion limits (SDLs) in the Murray–Darling Basin Plan. Open tenders are a transparent and competitive method of purchasing. We also used limited tenders to target specific catchments where we needed to recover entitlements.
All water purchasing is undertaken in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs). These rules are in place for all Commonwealth procurements. The Minister for Finance sets these rules to ensure government procurements show the highest standards of ethics, probity and integrity. CPRs can change from time to time to ensure they remain current and meet government best practice.
You can find more information on expenditure for Basin Plan water purchases and Australian Government investment in the Basin at Table of water reform funding in the Murray–Darling Basin.
There are also current purchasing programs for Basin Plan targets which have been active from 2023. More information on current programs can be found at Australian Government water purchasing in the Murray–Darling Basin.
Groundwater purchasing
For groundwater, the Basin Plan required extractions in the Queensland Upper Condamine Alluvium to be reduced by 38.45 gigalitres (GL/y). This was to ensure enough groundwater is left in the aquifer, to protect the resource for everyone and keep the environment healthy.
We held 6 open and 2 limited tenders between 2014 and 2018 to purchase groundwater licences in this area. Together, these tenders recovered 35.25 GL/y towards the 38.45 GL/y target.
After these tenders were completed, there was still a gap of 3.2 GL/y in the Queensland Upper Condamine Alluvium. This gap included:
- Central Condamine Alluvium 0.25 GL/y
- Tributaries 2.95 GL/y
The remaining groundwater gap of 3.2 GL/y is included in the Australian Government’s Strategic Water Purchasing – Bridging the Gap program.
Surface water purchasing – open tender
From 2008 to 2015, the Australian Government held 30 open tenders to purchase surface water entitlements in the Murray–Darling Basin. These tenders used open approaches to market to invite applications to sell water entitlements to the government. More information on these surface water open tenders can be accessed via the Australian Web Archive.
The Australian Government also released information about the average prices paid through these open tender processes. This provided transparency and assisted water owners considering selling water in future tenders. This information can also be accessed via the Australian Web Archive.
Surface water purchasing – limited tender
From 2016 to 2020, the Australian Government made 8 surface water purchases via limited tenders in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
More background information on these limited tender surface water purchases including volumes recovered and prices paid can be accessed via the Australian Web Archive.
Survey of water entitlement sellers under Restoring the Balance in the Murray–Darling Basin, June 2012
In 2012, the Australian Government released a commissioned report by Marsden Jacob Associates. The report was completed independently. It considered the progress of the Restoring the Balance water purchasing program. It also looked at the impact on individual irrigators of water sales to the Australian Government.