Water Allocations for Sale or Lease

Water Allocations for Sale or Lease

Sale of medium priority permanent water allocations — Mareeba Dimbulah Water Supply Scheme

Following completion of the Mareeba Dimbulah Water Supply Scheme (MDWSS) Efficiency Improvement Project, Sunwater has validated water savings from the scheme’s Barron Zone D for permanent sale.

The Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water (DRDMW) Approval has approved the conversion of 11,508 megalitres (ML) of medium priority (MP) distribution losses from the validated savings to productive use water allocations with the purpose “Any”.

The repurposed 11,508 ML will have no impact on existing allocations in the MDWSS with the total entitlement in the scheme remaining unchanged.

Sunwater will make the 11,508 ML of MDWSS Barron Zone D MP allocations available for permanent trade through an auction on the Water Exchange platform over a three-week period from Monday 29 April to Wednesday 15 May 2024. Sunwater is providing this advance notice for interested buyers to prepare for the auction.

The water will be auctioned as per the details outlined in the table below.

Week 1

Closing Monday 29 April 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
5MediumD9:00am
5MediumD9:30am
10MediumD10:00am
10MediumD10:30am
10MediumD11:00am
10MediumD11:30am
17MediumD12:00pm
20MediumD12:30pm
20MediumD1:00pm
50MediumD1:30pm
50MediumD2:00pm
100MediumD2:30pm
200MediumD3:00pm

Closing Tuesday 30 April 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
5MediumD9:00am
5MediumD9:30am
10MediumD10:00am
10MediumD10:30am
10MediumD11:00am
10MediumD11:30am
20MediumD12:00pm
20MediumD12:30pm
50MediumD1:00pm
50MediumD1:30pm
100MediumD2:00pm
200MediumD2:30pm

Closing Wednesday 1 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
20MediumD8:00am
20MediumD8:30am
20MediumD9:00am
20MediumD9:30am
50MediumD10:00am
50MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
50MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
100MediumD1:00pm
100MediumD1:30pm
200MediumD2:00pm
200MediumD2:30pm

Closing Thursday 2 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
20MediumD8:00am
20MediumD8:30am
20MediumD9:00am
20MediumD9:30am
50MediumD10:00am
50MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
50MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
100MediumD1:00pm
100MediumD1:30pm
200MediumD2:00pm
200MediumD2:30pm

Closing Friday 3 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
10MediumD9:00am
10MediumD9:30am
10MediumD10:00am
10MediumD10:30am
10MediumD11:00am
50MediumD11:30am
50MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
100MediumD1:00pm
100MediumD1:30pm
200MediumD2:00pm
200MediumD2:30pm

Week 2

East Barron – closing Tuesday 7 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumEast Barron8:00am
5MediumEast Barron8:30am
5MediumEast Barron9:00am
6MediumEast Barron9:30am
10MediumEast Barron10:00am
10MediumEast Barron10:30am
10MediumEast Barron11:00am
10MediumEast Barron11:30am
10MediumEast Barron12:00pm
20MediumEast Barron12:30pm
20MediumEast Barron1:00pm
20MediumEast Barron1:30pm
50MediumEast Barron2:00pm
50MediumEast Barron2:30pm
50MediumEast Barron3:00pm

East Barron – closing Wednesday 8 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
50MediumEast Barron8:00am
100MediumEast Barron8:30am
100MediumEast Barron9:00am
100MediumEast Barron9:30am
200MediumEast Barron10:00am

Closing Wednesday 8 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
10MediumD9:00am
10MediumD9:30am
20MediumD10:00am
20MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
50MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm

Closing Thursday 9 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
10MediumD9:00am
10MediumD9:30am
20MediumD10:00am
20MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
50MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
100MediumD1:00pm
200MediumD1:30pm
200MediumD2:00pm
500MediumD2:30pm

Closing Friday 10 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
10MediumD9:00am
10MediumD9:30am
20MediumD10:00am
50MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
100MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
100MediumD1:00pm
200MediumD1:30pm
200MediumD2:00pm
500MediumD2:30pm

Week 3

Closing Monday 13 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
10MediumD9:00am
10MediumD9:30am
10MediumD10:00am
10MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
100MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
100MediumD1:00pm
200MediumD1:30pm
200MediumD2:00pm
500MediumD2:30pm

Closing Tuesday 14 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
10MediumD9:00am
10MediumD9:30am
20MediumD10:00am
50MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
100MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
200MediumD1:00pm
200MediumD1:30pm
500MediumD2:00pm

Closing Wednesday 15 May 2024

Reference #Nominal Volume (ML)PriorityZoneClosing time
5MediumD8:00am
5MediumD8:30am
10MediumD9:00am
10MediumD9:30am
20MediumD10:00am
50MediumD10:30am
50MediumD11:00am
50MediumD11:30am
100MediumD12:00pm
100MediumD12:30pm
200MediumD1:00pm

Things to note

  • The above auction links will go live on the Water Exchange website with varied closing times and days. If a bid is received in the last minute of the auction, it will be extended for an additional two minutes.
  • Sunwater will set a reserve price of $3,200 per ML. If a bid is received at or above the starting bid price, the parcel will sell at the highest priced bid.  Bids are made in minimum $5 increments.
  • Buyers are encouraged to register an account with Water Exchange by Monday 22 April 2024if they wish to participate. Registration can be done via the Water Exchange website. For assistance with registration, please contact Lincoln Parr on 0419 473 153 or lparr@ruralcowater.com.au.
  • The 11,508 ML is located in the MDWSS Barron Zone D and, as such, all water will be sold from Barron Zone D.
  • The purpose of the allocations being sold is “Any”, meaning there is no condition for the intended purpose of use.
  • To avoid any supply constraints in delivering to the MDWSS’s Zone D East Barron, a cap will be placed on East Barron equivalent to the loss savings of 831 ML of water savings validated in this section. Only buyers with offtakes in the East Barron can bid for the parcels available in this Zone D section.   
  • Buyers may choose to submit an application with DRDMW to change the location of the available volumes after the completion of the sale process. Sunwater is not involved in the approval of such applications and will not be responsible for additional costs incurred for this step. Any requested change to location will be subject to scheme zone caps. The Queensland Government publishes the current location of MDWSS water allocations on their website, where “capped out” zones can be identified.
  • Temporary and permanent trading is permitted in the MDWSS, subject to zone caps – refer zone cap factsheet.
  • Sunwater’s allocation is the 11,508 ML in its entirety therefore, subdivision of the allocation into parcels will be required as part of the auction process.  Sunwater will facilitate the process with DRDMW before any volumes are transferred to the successful buyers.
  • Finalisation of transactions will be dependent upon subdivision processing, contracting and title transfer processing times.
  • MDWSS announced allocations for the relevant water year will be attributed to the successful buyers’ account(s) at the time of transaction finalisation. Announced allocations for the MDWSS can be viewed here.
  • Current MDWSS rules still apply such as the working supply flow rate, the flow rate possible to deliver water. All buyers are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence around supply and, if required, discuss with Sunwater Operations or Customer Support. 
  • All customers are required to adhere to working supply flow rates to share the channel capacity during periods where demand for water exceeds the system’s capacity to deliver. If you do not have a record of your working supply flow rate, please contact Sunwater Customer Support. Please refer to Sunwater’s MDWSS Water Supply Arrangements and Scheme Targets here.
  • Sunwater encourages buyers to engage a solicitor to assist in the sales process and to reduce processing times.
  • Interested buyers who don’t have access to the internet can contact Water Exchange so that alternative bidding arrangements can be made.
  • Buyers who do not have a water offtake can contact Sunwater on 13 15 89, Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm to work through the water offtake requirements.
  • The sale terms and conditions that apply to parcels purchased are contained in the Contract of Sale of Water Allocation. The ongoing supply terms and conditions are contained in the River Supply Contract. 
  • When Sunwater is required to distribute water via its network of channels/pipelines, both a River Supply Contract and a Channel Contract will be required. Links to contracts will be made available prior to auction in subsequent update communications.

Permanent trade purchase process

Following auction closing, Sunwater will complete the Contract of Sale with the particulars of the sale and will send to the buyer(s) for signing as well as an invoice for the deposit amount of ten per cent of the purchase price. The buyer will need to return to Sunwater the signed Contract of Sale together with payment of the deposit.

The buyer will also be required to:

  • Complete a Sunwater customer profile form.
  • New business/entity customers will be required to supply an ASIC search completed within the last six months.
  • Complete a Titles Registry Form 1 Transfer and Form 24 Property information (Transfer).
  • Submit to Sunwater the completed original forms 1 and 24 for execution.
  • Sign (if required) and return the River Supply Contract/s provided by Sunwater.
  • Submit to Titles Queensland the required lodgement forms (executed and stamped forms 1 and 24) and Notice to Registrar, issued by Sunwater, upon receipt of payment for remaining allocation purchase price.
  • Supply to Sunwater the Registration Confirmation Statement (RCS).
  • Based on parcel(s) purchased the successful buyer may choose to complete a separate subdivision or amalgamation process. For more information, please contact Sunwater customer support on 13 15 89.

Once Sunwater executes and returns the supply contracts to the buyer, the buyer is responsible for submitting all executed transfer forms to Titles Queensland. After the buyer receives the completed RCS from Titles Queensland and provides the RCS to Sunwater, water supply can commence.

Buyers are advised to allow up to 75 working days from the close of the auction to water supply commencement for this process to be completed. This timeframe may be extended if a subdivision or amalgamation is requested and is inclusive of the 30-day settlement period. Sunwater will endeavour to reduce these timeframes where possible.

Sunwater encourages buyers to engage a solicitor to assist in the sales process and to reduce processing times. A solicitor can provide a solicitor’s undertaking to Sunwater so that signed transfer documents (forms 1 & 24) can be released to the buyer for stamping only before the final invoice for the balance of the purchase price is paid, otherwise the signed transfer documents will not be released to the buyer until the final invoice payment is confirmed.

Purchase price, fees and charges

Buyers purchasing water allocations should note that ongoing fixed and usage changes apply every year and are payable on a quarterly basis. The 2023-24 customer fees and charges for MDWSS allocations are available on the Sunwater website and are available on the Sunwater website.

The River Supply Contract refers to the fees and charges, however, the Queensland Government has introduced a discount for irrigators. The 15 per cent discount will be applied to Part A,B,C & D charges for irrigation customers. The invoices issued by Sunwater will reflect the discounted price for the duration of the Government initiative. Horticultural growers may also be eligible for an additional 35 per cent rebate (a 50 per cent cut in total) on their Part A,B,C & D charges. Refer to the Queensland Government’s website for more details.

For non-irrigation buyers, or buyers unsure of their water usage classification, please contact Sunwater customer support on 13 15 89 for more information and to confirm the applicable supply charges.

The fees and charges applicable to the sale process include:

  • Titles fees are available for calculation on the Titles Queensland website, titlesqld.com.au and searching ‘Fee calculator’.
  • Stamp duties, where applicable (varies) – buyers are responsible for determining stamp duty requirements and arranging payment.

Further information

For further information regarding the water sale process or to progress registration of a Water Exchange trading account, please contact Sunwater’s Ruralco water broker, Lincoln Parr, on 0419 473 153 or lparr@ruralcowater.com.au

More information

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