Getting the most out of Commonwealth environmental water

Managing environmental water effectively is critical for maximising the health of ecosystems across the Murray-Darling Basin for current and future generations.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder uses Commonwealth-owned water in the Murray-Darling Basin with the aim of protecting and restoring water-dependent ecosystems.

ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said the Environmental Water Trade: Making Every Drop Count report explains how trading water allocations could provide significant environmental benefits and outlines how some of the barriers could be overcome.

“The allocation of water doesn’t always align with environmental demands. This report shows that trading water allocations can be used to overcome some of the limitations of current water entitlement tools.

“There are various trading strategies that could be adopted to get the most out of the existing environmental water portfolios and maximise environmental outcomes for water-dependent ecosystems,” Dr Greenville said.

“To date, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has sold water allocations on five occasions.

“Selling and buying water allocations could be used more to move water where it’s needed most to help deliver improved environmental benefits.

“This has the potential to deliver better environmental outcomes for the significant financial investment made in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Read the ABARES Environmental Water Trade: Making Every Drop Count report on the ABARES website.