Client: Murray Dairy DG Consulting prepared a concise, plain language booklet providing an explanation of water entitlements and trading processes as a reference for use by dairy farmers in northern Victoria and Southern NSW. The project included summary descriptions of the key water access entitlement frameworks in NSW and Victoria, the sources of water used to supply allocations and the seasonal allocation process. This provided the background information to enable more informed trading decisions. Other sections of the tool kit examined the types of trade transactions possible, trading principles and rules, sources of market information and the factors that may...

Client: Goulburn-Murray Water DG Consulting undertook this project for Goulburn-Murray Water. The project involved a review of the Waterbank entitlement purchase and lease back scheme and the Water Entitlements Sale scheme being operated by Murray Irrigation Limited, together with an analysis of the applicability of such scheme to G-0MW and its customers. The project required a review of literature in these schemes, telephone interviews with key MIL staff to confirm the details of the schemes, objectives and performance of these schemes in achieving the stated objectives. This information was then used for an analysis of the need for similar schemes...

Client: Victorian DPI This project was undertaken in partnership with Frontier Economics. It explored the potential options and benefits of co-ordination and targeting strategies for infrastructure renewal and water entitlement buy-back schemes, with the aim of maximising the combined benefits of these two policy approaches. Major irrigation renewal projects such as the Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project were initiated several years ago with one aim being to recover water for environmental use. Subsequently, the risks of changing water availability due to climate change and entitlement buy-back programs emerged. This discussion paper examined the interactions between renewal and buy-back programs and...

Client: North Central Catchment Management Authority The Gunbower Forest is one of The Living Murray icon sites. North Central CMA had undertaken a range of technical studies to identify options for delivery of environmental water requirements to this important wetland. Independent works to supply the forest watering needs were potentially feasible, but involved significant capital and ongoing costs. Solutions utilising irrigation delivery infrastructure appeared to offer an alternative, but the availability of sufficient spare capacity in future was uncertain and difficult to ascertain due to the potential changes in irrigation demand from factors such as climate change and entitlement buyback...

Client: Department of Sustainability and Environment The cost of purchasing or creating environmental water entitlements is significant, and has been the focus of much attention. One aspect of the management of environmental entitlements that has received only limited attention is the ongoing costs associated with management and delivery of environmental water allocations. This project, undertaken for DSE, identified the agencies participating in the management and delivery of environmental water supplies in Victoria, and the activities currently being undertaken by each agency. A detailed questionnaire was developed to collect data from the eighteen different organisations involved across Victoria. The data collected...

Client: Bureau Of Meteorology Denis Flett now of DG Consulting led the project that produced the Stocktake and Analysis of Australia’s Water Accounting Practice, which set the framework for the development of water accounting in Australia. He has been involved in the National Water Accounting Development project since its inception, and is currently a member of the Water Accounting Standards Board. This project has recently resulted in the publication of two landmark reports for public comment. These reports are: Water Accounting Conceptual Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of General Purpose Water Accounts; and Preliminary Australian Water Accounting Standards and...

Client: Bureau of Meteorology Through the NWI, governments across Australia have committed to improve the accounting for water as part of moves to improve the management of this critical resource. The Commonwealth Water Act 2007 allocated responsibility for producing a National Water Account to the Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau has undertaken a range of activities, including a major pilot study to trial methods that can be used to prepare the first NWA. DG Consulting and Perienne Pty Ltd were engaged to assess if the Bureau was on track to produce the first NWA in 2010. The review examined the...

Client: Murray-Darling Basin Commission In the late 1990s, growing concerns from downstream landholders over the operation of Hume and Dartmouth Dams led the MDBC to establish an independent review of the operation of these dams. DG Consulting’s Garry Smith (who was at that time working for Goulburn-Murray Water) was appointed as the Victorian representative on the review panel. The review objectives were to identify changes to operating rules that could better meet the competing objectives of water supply, environmental enhancement and flood mitigation. The review panel identified potential issues that needed to be considered. This involved a substantial issues identification...

Client: Northern Victorian Irrigation Renewal Project (NVIRP) In order to meet the environmental approval conditions established for the renewal of the northern Victorian irrigation system, NVIRP was required to establish an Expert Review Panel. This panel is required to assess the adequacy of the Water Change Management Framework and associated documents including Environmental Watering Plans for waterways and wetlands across the project area. Denis Flett of DG Consulting was appointed to chair this three person panel. This is a multi-disciplinary process which integrates ecological relationships with hydrology and assesses the consequences of hydrological changes. D G Consulting is providing hydrological...

Client: Department of Sustainability and Environment The Western Region Sustainable Water Strategy is being developed to provide a framework for the future management of water resources in western Victoria. The region is facing finite or declining water resources together with increased demand for water. Trade is a measure that can help with reallocation of water between uses. DG Consulting was engaged by DSE to bring its extensive knowledge of water markets and trade issues developed in the southern MDB and analyse the situation in western Victoria and propose options for enhancing trade. The western region has a number of characteristics...