Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin Program: Condamine-Balonne Rivers catchment
- MDB Catchments
- Condamine-Balonne
Major irrigation areas
- St George Irrigation Area
- Darling Downs Irrigation Area
Examples of high value environmental assets
Condamine-Balonne Rivers catchment
State: Queensland / New South Wales
Water purchased from the Condamine-Balonne Rivers catchment can be used to benefit environmental assets in this catchment and downstream.
Australian Government water purchases in the Condamine-Balonne River catchment
| Catchment | Entitlement Type | Secured Purchases (ML) | Secured Entitlement Purchases - Average Anuual Yield (ML) | Other Purchases - Average Annual Yield (ML)(d) | Average price paid per trade ($/ML)(c) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Condamine Balonne | Unregulated | 6,635 | 6,635 | 1,700 |
(a) Includes the water entitlements acquired from Toorale Station.
(b) Recovery estimates are calculated using SEWPaC's estimates of the long term average share of the diversion limit associated with each entitlement. It was advised in the Murray-Darling Basin Ministers' Communique of 4 November 2011 that these would be used to determine how much of the 'gap' between the Baseline Diversion Limit (BDL) and the Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) has been 'bridged' through purchase and infrastructure projects.
(c) The average prices displayed are not necessarily an indicator of the current price the Australian Government is willing to pay for water entitlements. This is because the prices the government is willing to pay for water entitlements are adjusted according to factors such as market price movements, reliability of entitlements, expected environmental benefits and the cumulative volume of purchases that have been made in each catchment. The average prices displayed reflect consideration of these factors at the time applications were accepted, which may be some months prior to the time contracts were exchanged.
(d)includes the water purchased from the Victorian Government related to the NVIRP project. The water to be purchased in this transaction is specified in average annual yield terms.
The Australian Government conducted a water purchase tender in the Queensland Lower Balonne region which opened on 28 March and closed on 15 April 2011
All applicants have been advised of the outcome of the assessment of their offers. This assessment took longer than assessments for other tenders, because it included hydrological modeling of each entitlement.
| Catchment | Entitlement class | Average price of offers being pursued |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Balonne | Unsupplemented | $1,470.00 |
Note: Each sell offer submitted to the tender was assessed individually with reference to the expected environmental outcomes from acquiring the entitlement offered, and the estimated market value of the entitlement. As a result, a unique price benchmark was calculated for each entitlement. The sell offer was accepted if the sell offer price was equal to, or less than, the price benchmark.
The data in this table represents the average price ($/ML) of accepted offers. However, an offer made at a price below the average price may still have been rejected if its calculated benchmark was below the sell offer price.
Where to obtain information on market prices
Information on market prices in New South Wales is available from the New South Wales Department of Water and Energy .
Information on market prices in Queensland is available from the Department of Natural Resources and Water
Private water auction houses or brokers can also provide information on historical entitlement trades.
CSIRO Sustainable Yields Report
Note that the catchment boundaries referred to in this report may not directly align with the catchment boundaries represented on this web site.