Water for the Future

Policy and programs

Market price information for Murray-Darling Basin Water Entitlements

The price reports below are provided to assist irrigators and interested parties to identify the prices that are being paid for various water entitlements across the Murray-Darling Basin. The reports have been compiled by independent consultants.

The reports include the volume weighted average prices for water entitlement transfers in the Murray-Darling Basin, drawing on information from the state water registers of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia and from Murray Irrigation Limited's water exchange.

The prices on water registers are for transfers approved by relevant authorities, which may be several months after contracts have been exchanged or the water sale agreement was first struck. Consequently, the prices reported on water registers may not be truly representative of current prevailing market prices.

In order to gauge current prevailing market prices, the reports (from September quarter 2009) also include buyer bid and seller ask prices identified from surveys of water brokers and water trading exchanges in the southern Murray-Darling Basin.

Download the market prices

Restoring the Balance in the MDB Program