Who: Southern Rural Water

Timeframe: Progressive

Where unallocated water can be made available for consumptive use, within sustainable diversion limits for unregulated rivers and permissible consumptive volumes for groundwater systems, auctions and tenders will be used to ensure the price is based on the value of the resources.

Auctions or tenders between 2011 and 2013 will provide an estimate of the market value of water in different parts of the region.

Southern Rural Water will use the results of these auctions to inform the setting of a reserve price for unallocated water in areas where there is insufficient demand to hold an effective auction. However, the setting of a reserve price would be waived in circumstances where application fees and the costs of resource appraisals required to access the water already provide a strong signal about the value of the resource.

Any revenue raised through these auctions would be used by Southern Rural Water to cover the cost of the auctions and to undertake future resource appraisals.