Water trading

Buying and selling unused allocation

As a buyer, water trading can help to meet your usage needs during a dry spell, or when your existing allocation is not enough. As a seller, it can provide an extra source of income for water allocation that you’re not using.

You can trade any unused allocation from your allocation account (ABA). Your ABA must always have a positive balance.

How to trade unused allocation

You can apply to trade water allocation through a water broker or by downloading and submitting a form from the Victorian Water Register (VWR).

The price for water needs to be negotiated between the seller and buyer. We don’t play a role in trading price negotiations.

For more information, including statistics on past trades, trade limits and transfer prices, see Allocation trading on the VWR website.

Victorian Water Register

Go to Allocation forms and download Form 39 – Application to trade water allocation. Each Form 39 has a unique application number and can only be used once.

To submit your application:

The fee for 2023/2024 is $96.00 (water services are GST exempt).

If you’re emailing your application to us, you will need to contact us to pay the application fee. We can’t process your application until the fee has been paid.

Water broker

You can also buy and sell water through a water broker. Water brokers have their own portal on the VWR and set their own fees.

To find a list of water brokers that meet government standards, see Water broker compliance.

Trading deadlines

Trades are for one irrigation season only. You must apply to trade water before the deadline to have it counted for the current irrigation season.

See Irrigation season dates for details.

Water trading strategy

Lower Murray Water owns bulk entitlement and water shares of about 32,500 ML.

Our Water Trading Strategy sets out how we will use our water allocation – for example, how much allocation we will sell and when. This changes each year to reflect seasonal determination and urban water demands.