The South Australian Government has unveiled a new private carryover policy which will allow water access entitlement holders to manage inter-seasonal risk through a more simple system with transparent rules.

 

The Minister for Water and the River Murray Paul Caica said the policy was developed in consultation with irrigators and other water users.

 

“The private carryover arrangements were made possible when Schedule G of the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement 2008, which provides storage rights for South Australian Entitlement Flow in upstream storages, was agreed to by upstream states.”

 

Mr Caica said the new policy will be operational from the 2012-13 water year which will begin in July next year.

 

Under the new policy, up to 20 per cent of a water access entitlement may be carried over from one water year to the next. The actual volume of carryover available for allocation in any year is dependent on the amount of water the South Australian Government has been able to store in upstream storages.

 

Individual carryover allocations will be determined on the volume of unused water at the end of each water year.

 

“While resource and storage conditions can change quickly in the River Murray System and it is not possible to guarantee sufficient water will be stored or available for carryover, this new scheme will provide a valuable tool to irrigators to better manage their water use particularly during periods of low flows,” Mr Caica said.

 

Information about the volume stored during the remainder of 2011-12, the outlook for allocations and the risk of spill for 2012-13 will be provided to water access entitlement holders around March 2012.

 

Further information about the policy is available online at www.waterforgood.sa.gov.au