Murrumbidgee IVT

1. Trade will be opened and closed when the IVT account balance triggers are reached.

2. WaterNSW website will be updated at 9am each business day morning giving the latest IVT account balance.

3. When the website indicates trade is open, applications cannot be lodged until 10am NSW time* on that day. Applications received before 10am NSW time* on that day will not be accepted. (*NSW time is the time in NSW on the day trade is opened). This was effective from 6th March 2017.

4. Only applications lodged electronically via email will be accepted due to the necessity of being given a timestamp.

5. WaterNSW will rely on a ‘system-generated’ list that ranks all applications from the time that the application is first received by WaterNSW’s servers. WaterNSW will sequentially process applications on the basis of this list, such that applications with the same time stamp will be further ranked to reflect the order in which the applications are received by WaterNSW’s servers (by whatever margin). Therefore, if required, the prioritisation of applications with the same time stamp will be based on the order in which WaterNSW’s systems identify those applications as having been received.

6. Invalid, incomplete or out-of-time applications will not be accepted.

7. When paying by credit card, failed or incomplete transactions cause the application to be returned for amendment and lose their place in the queue. Those paying by EFT need to include the EFT transaction report with their application or it will be considered incomplete and returned for amendment and also lose its place in the queue.

8. Approval of applications will stop when the IVT account limit is reached (100 GL or 0 GL). The trade that causes the limit to be reached and those queued behind cannot be approved until capacity becomes available in the account.

9. When the limit is reached and trade is closed, it will be indicated promptly on the WaterNSW website; however applications will be accepted into a pending queue until the end of that day (midnight). Queued application information will displayed on the website and will continue be updated daily, as trades are processed.

10. Applications in the queue cannot be amended.

11. Applicants can withdraw their application from the queue at any time.

12. Queued applications will be returned if they cannot be processed within 7 days of trade closing.

13. Queued applications will be approved in order of receipt, if/when IVT account capacity permits. If IVT water delivery to the Murray is occurring, or there is some back-trade, then it is likely that queued applications, or at least a portion of them, could be approved within 7 days.

14. The IVT balance on the website and queued application information will continue to be updated daily during this period.

15. After 7 days the queue will be cleared as follows: the first application in the queue is removed from the queue and the next application considered. Applications are then removed or approved depending on the available IVT account balance capacity. This means that ‘small’ applications in the queue  behind a ‘large’ application could be approved after 7 days, as ‘larger’ applications that cannot be approved are rejected as unsuccessful.

16. Once the queue is cleared, a new application with a new SWC application number will be required when the trigger point is reached and trade next opens.

Points to consider when lodging applications

1. Applications and payment information need to be complete and accurate or your application will be returned for amendment.

2. Applications returned for amendment will lose their place in any queue. Applications will need to be resubmitted. The time of receipt of the resubmitted application will determine your place in the queue. Resubmitted applications must be received within the time frames specified in the procedure.

3. Each application must have a unique SWC application number or it will be rejected. You can ensure  your application number is unique by downloading a new application form each time.

4. Applications for a large volume already submitted and queued cannot be reduced to fit an available account capacity.

5. If you submit an application for the IVT a fee of $56.16 will be charged. If the application is unsuccessful, withdrawn or incomplete your fee will not be refunded.

6. Trade processing fees paid to other states may be forfeited if your application is unsuccessful. Please check with your interstate authority before lodging your application.

7. If there is an error in your application, the application will be returned to you.  If an amendment to your application is not received by WaterNSW within 24 hours of receipt of the return, the application will be deemed to be withdrawn.

Please call our trade team on 1300 662 077 if you have any doubts or questions about your application.

The Murrumbidgee inter-valley transfer (IVT) account keeps track of net allocation trade to and from the Murrumbidgee valley.

A positive IVT account balance means there is currently net trade out of the valley. That is, water currently sits in Murrumbidgee storages for delivery out of the valley.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority draws water from the Murrumbidgee when required for Murray system operations, and the IVT account is debited accordingly.

A maximum balance of + 100 GL applies to the Murrumbidgee IVT account because this is the volume of water that can be physically transferred out of the valley via Balranald in one year without incurring excessive transmission losses.

A negative value would mean net trade into the valley from downstream. A negative balance is not allowed - it is not sustainable since water cannot be physically delivered upstream.

Proposed transfers that take the IVT account beyond the range 0 to 100 GL will not normally be approved, but may be considered on a case by case basis.

The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water can announce open and closure of allocation trade without notice.

• Murrumbidgee IVT event 31 August 2022 (PDF, 241.31 KB)
• Murrumbidgee IVT event 7 March 2023 (PDF, 301.41 KB)
• Murrumbidgee IVT event 27 June 2023 (PDF, 190.57 KB)
• Murrumbidgee IVT event 2 July 2024 (PDF, 95.27 KB)