Who: Department of Sustainability and Environment, Southern Rural Water, East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.

Timeframe: End 2012.

Consistent with the principles outlined in Chapter 3, the cap on any new winter-fill entitlements will be:

• increased to a total of 6 GL across the Mitchell catchment; and
• set at a total of 1.5 GL across the Tambo catchment.
  

No additional entitlements will be made available in the Nicholson catchment, so water entitlements for new uses in the Nicholson catchment need to be bought (traded) from existing entitlement-holders.

The availability of these entitlements will depend on location and access conditions imposed on the licences.

Not all of this water will be sold immediately. A staged approach will be taken, with Southern Rural Water determining how this water will be allocated in each catchment – which may occur initially through expressions of interest, auctions or based on a reserve price.

Licences to unallocated water will only be made available at or above a reserve price.

Allocations may be made through an auction process in some catchments and allocated in accordance with the Water Act 1989, which includes the need to demonstrate that the purchase is for a genuine water demand.

The amounts of water available for new entitlements in the Mitchell and Tambo catchments will be reviewed as part of the Strategy review in the next 10 years.

The extra 6 GL in the Mitchell catchment is in addition to the transfer of East Gippsland Water’s bulk entitlement from the Nicholson and Tambo rivers.