Facilitating improvements in the specification, registration and trading of water entitlements
Project details
| Objective: |
To assist with the operation of efficient water markets and help minimise the transaction costs on water trades through a number of projects to be commissioned by the National Water Commission. |
| Funding: |
Up to $1.25 million funding has been committed for project activities to improve water market performance through enhancing the specification and registration of water entitlements. |
| Jurisdiction: |
National |
| Commenced: |
November 2007 |
| Compled: | February 2012 |
| Outputs |
About the project
This funding supported work under the National Water Initiative by assisting with the operation of efficient water markets and helping to minimise the transaction costs on water trades.
Funding supported the development of the National Irrigation Corporations Water Entitlement Register (NICWER) to provide an online, guaranteed and searchable record of all water entitlements issued by participating water companies and any encumbrances on those entitlements.
Funding also supported modifications to the NSW water access licence register to enable tagged trading. This enabled automated processing of tagged trades which reduced approval times and allowed agencies to communicate more efficiently on water ordering, account reconciliation and the reporting of trades.
Significantly, funding supported the publication of the Commission's Australian Water Markets Reports, which were delivered in 2008 and 2009.
Project benefits
Project funding:
- accelerated state and irrigation company implementation of improvements to entitlement specification and registration, and new trading arrangements
- supported the expansion of water trade and improve water market performance through enhancing the specification, registration and trading of water entitlements
The project also advanced the National Water Initiative objective to:
- facilitate the operation of efficient water markets and the opportunities for trading
- minimise transaction costs on water trades, including through good information flows in the market and compatible entitlement, registry, regulatory and other arrangements across jurisdictions
- have in place compatible, publicly-accessible and reliable water registers of all water access entitlements and trades
- establish compatible institutional and regulatory arrangements that facilitate intrastate and interstate trade.