The State Government has put its long-awaited irrigation delivery share review out for public comment.
Shares are used in the Goulburn-Murray and Sunraysia irrigation districts to provide rights to irrigators to access water delivery infrastructure.
The discussion paper covers 18 options, grouped into ‘recommended’, to be considered in greater detail; ‘investigate further’, to undergo a more thorough review and ‘not recommended.”
It is further broken down into five categories, based on the type of change proposed.
Water Minister Lisa Neville said it was important landowners and the broader community engaged with the review.
“This delivery share review will assess the best options for irrigators in Northern Victoria for a fair outcome the community can get behind,” Ms Neville said.
“Engagement with landowners and the broader community is an important part of this review – ensuring we keep people informed every step of the way.”
Its been a decade since reforms separated water from land in Victoria and delivery shares were introduced, giving rights to irrigators to access water delivery infrastructure.
The review found there had been dramatic changes over that time, with less water available in the irrigation pool, through climate change and environmental water recovery under the Murray Darling Basin Plan
The decade had also seen adjustment after extreme drought and floods, new irrigation and crop production technologies, shifts in global markets, fluctuating commodity prices and changes in regulation.
The Delivery Share Review began last year, with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning working closely with Goulburn-Murray Water, Lower Murray Water and other key stakeholders.
Read more: Caution urged on delivery share review
The review summary found about 25 per cent of GMW customers used significantly less water than their delivery shares provided the right to access.
Delivery share costs range from $4388 in the Shepparton district to $2896 in other areas of the GMW.
Customers who were not irrigating their properties were continuing to pay the fixed delivery share charges.
“This equates to a risk of revenue loss of over $80 million, equivalent to $8 million of revenue per year over the 10-year period covered by termination fees.”
This equates to a risk of revenue loss of over $80 million, equivalent to $8 million of revenue per year over the 10-year period covered by termination fees.
- Water delivery share review
The review found in the Lower Murray Water district, there was a surge of redevelopment and increasing demand for water.
Delivery shares were starting to have scarcity value in LMW, while opportunities were being identified to optimise water delivery to maximise capacity within the district’s networks.
Options for community comment have been grouped in chapters in the discussion paper.
• The specification of a delivery share – including reducing the annual delivery allowance, resizing or allocation
• Providing specific service products at different price points
• Using delivery share in system operations including priority lead times and volumetric access for delivery shares over casual use
• Facilitating a market in delivery shares
• Tariffing and pricing principles – including changes to the infrastructure access fee
Ms Neville said over the last 12 twelve months, the project team engaged with key industry representatives, who helped to inform the options presented in the discussion paper on the future of delivery shares.
The discussions paper reflected a range of views and challenges around the current delivery share system, as well as differences between the Sunraysia and the Goulburn Murray regions.
As part of the review, the Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning will meet with stakeholders and explore options that delivered the best outcome for communities and farmers.
Ms Neville said the review would also consider reduced water availability for irrigation, fluctuation in water prices and changes in demand for water.
It would look at the impact of climate change -- with predictions of a hotter, drier climate with lower inflows, longer droughts, less rainfall in the cool season and dams harvesting lower volumes of water.
In its overview, the DELWP said the review drafted options to change or replace delivery share by consulting with water sector and irrigator representatives.
It looked at the data and evidence around current delivery shareholdings and water use.
The discussion paper can be found at:
