Temporary transfers

Temporary transfers

Our customers benefit from water trading and can perform temporary transfers on our online customer service portal Sunwater Online 24 hours a day.

Sunwater sells its available allocations on the temporary trade market each year via our water broker. Sunwater’s water broker is Ruralco Water who will trade our allocations via the online platform Water Exchange. To obtain access to seasonal allocations for the 2024-25 water year, check the Water Exchange web site or contact Lincoln Parr at 0149 473 153.

Water Exchange is available for public use. Sunwater is a strong advocate of increasing water market transparency to promote both trading and better utilisation of water throughout the State, and we hope that by having our trading occur via a publicly available platform will assist in achieving this goal. 

Ownership details are not listed on the platform so trading activities are confidential, however pricing and volume data is made publicly available for relevant scheme’s which reference the requirement in their interim and resource operation licences (IROL and ROL).  This publicly available data is listed on the Temporary Transfer Sale Information page.

In addition to Water Exchange, Sunwater has launched its own water trading board to promote the uptake of underutilised water across the State. The platform makes it easier for customers and non-customers who are looking to buy or sell water to easily find each other for temporary and permanent trades. That platform is available on the Sunwater website here.

For any enquires relating to water trading using the Water Exchange platform please contact Ruralco Water.  For any enquiries regarding your water accounts, as always you can access your information at Sunwater Online or call customer support on 13 15 89.

For your local conditions, please refer to this table.

To apply for a transfer, please complete our temporary transfer form.

Sunwater Temporary Trading Strategies

Water year: 2024-25

Sunwater’s available allocations are now available to trade on the Water Exchange platform. Available volumes are tabulated below.

Scheme	Priority	ROL Zone	2024-25 Trading Volumes (ML)
Bowen Broken	High-A1	Bowen Broken Zone C	639
Bundaberg (Kolan only)	Medium	Kolan Zone AD	5,000
Burdekin Haughton	High	Burdekin Zone C	7,954
Burdekin Haughton	Medium	Burdekin Zone C	1,628
Julius Dam	High	Zone 1	10,350
Lower Fitzroy	High	Zone Fitzroy A	150
Lower Mary River	Medium	Lower Mary Zone	2,500
Macintyre Brook	High	Macintyre Brook Zone B	150 (CAP only)
Nogoa Mackenzie	High	Zone Mackenzie G	200
Pioneer River	High-A	Zone Pioneer 01	1,300
Pioneer River	High-A	Zone Pioneer 02	10,775
Proserpine River	High-A	Proserpine Zone A	10,508
Upper Burnett	High	Burnett Zone SB	10

Volumes shown in the trading strategies are nominal volumes approved in September 2024 for the water year. All volumes are subject to announced allocations and if the announced allocation for a scheme is less than 100 per cent then the full nominal volume will not be available to the water trader, only the volume equal to the current announcement. If the announced allocation increases during the year the additional water will be transferred to the water trader at the time of the current announcement.

* In 2024-25 Sunwater intends to make medium priority water allocations in the following schemes available for permanent sale or term allocation: 

• Cunnamulla
• Mareeba Dimbulah 
• Upper Burnett (see note below)

More information will be provided at a later date on the Sunwater Water for Sale or Lease webpage. Customers can register their interest with Sunwater’s water broker Lincoln Parr at 0149 473 153. 

Note: Burnett Water Party Limited (BWPL) medium priority allocations in the Upper Burnett have separate tariffs and charging arrangements from regular Upper Burnett WSS allocations. The latest BWPL tariffs can be reviewed here.

Murray-Darling Basin approval authority Sunwater trade disclosure

This report lists trades, approved on or after 1 July 2019, where Sunwater is the Murray-Darling Basin approval authority and is also the buyer or seller. This information is required as per section 12.38 of the Basin Plan 2012.

Service standard for processing temporary transfers

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has adopted the below service standard for processing times (that is, for the approval or rejection of trades).

Service Standard

Intra-state; 90% of allocation trades processed within 5 business days

Performance against this standard reported for period: 1 July 2024 to 31 May 2025

Allocation trade (temporary trades) processing time from 1 July 2024 to 31 May 2025	Performance against Service Standard	Intended Service Standard
Intra-state trades – % of trades processed within 5 business days	95%	90%
Number of Intra-state trades	2,191
Volume of Intra-state trades	207,406.902 ML

Temporary transfer of carryover water

Customers may temporary transfer carryover water as it is a personal product. If doing so, customers (the transferor) should note that:

• in specific conditions, carryover can be cancelled—these conditions are outlined in the terms and conditions section of the carryover application form for relevant schemes, found on the customer forms page.
• quarterly water loss factors may be applied and are also outlined in the carryover application form
• if carryover is cancelled or quarterly loss factors are applied, the transferor’s water account may go into a negative balance which may need to be reported to the regulator. This breach will need to be remedied through the purchase of temporary transfer water to bring the account out of a negative balance.

Customers must be aware of the multiple factors and risks associated with temporary transferring carryover water. Examples have been developed to demonstrate the risks of transferring carryover and provide visual representation of what a customer account may look like if carryover is cancelled in a carryover-eligible water supply scheme.

As this is a complex water accounting calculation, we strongly encourage customers considering a transfer of water inclusive of carryover contact customer support on 13 15 89 Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm to discuss their options.

Recommended water brokers

For assistance with purchasing or selling water on a temporary basis (via temporary transfer) or a permanent basis (via property transfer), visit the Purchase/transfer page.

More information

Sunwater Customer Support
Phone: 13 15 89
Email: customersupport@sunwater.com.au