Recent amendments to the NSW Water Management Act 2000 mean that there are no longer impediments to private water trusts and private irrigation districts in NSW complying with the Water Market Rules and the Water Charge (Termination Fees) Rules. These amendments were made following concerns raised by a number of NSW private water trusts and private irrigation districts about their ability to give effect to their obligations under the Water Market Rules and Water Charge (Termination Fees) Rules.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will now be actively monitoring and working with the NSW based trusts and irrigator districts to ensure compliance with the rules.

“The ACCC expects compliance by all operators as the rules have now been in full effect for more than 12 months and any adjustment period has now passed” ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said today. “Any irrigators who are concerned that their water supplier is preventing them from trading their water should contact the ACCC”.

The ACCC is responsible for enforcing compliance with the Water Market Rules and the Water Charge (Termination Fees) Rules which are designed to free up the trade of water access rights in the Murray-Darling Basin. These rules facilitate trade by enabling irrigators to 'transform' their share of the water entitlements held on their behalf by operators into separately held entitlements and capping the termination fee that irrigation infrastructure operators can impose on irrigators who wish to terminate their right of access to use the operators infrastructure.

Part 1 of the amendments to the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW) enable private water trusts and private irrigation districts to determine landholders’ water entitlements, and to then apply to the NSW Office of Water to transform those water entitlements which can then be traded.  These are the preconditions to an operator being able to give effect to the Water Market Rules.

Private water trusts and private irrigation districts are now also expressly empowered under Part 1 to charge termination fees when an irrigator terminates their right of access.

It is likely that Parts 2 and 3 of the amendments will commence later in the year and be preceded by consultations with affected parties.

To assist irrigation infrastructure operators understand their obligations under the rules the ACCC has previously issued detailed guides to the Rules, available from the ACCC website, http://www.accc.gov.au/water.