Water Trading - Harvey
Water trading is about buying a water entitlement from a licensed user. This limits additional impacts on the water resource and can provide a revenue source for the seller. Due to the high cost of securing public water supply, this can also be a cost effective option for water utilities.
The Water Corporation secured a trading agreement with Harvey Water in 2006 to permanently transfer 17.1 gigalitres of water a year from the irrigation cooperative for public water supply. Piping open channels, thereby reducing leakage and evaporation, saved this water.
Harvey Water, the irrigation cooperative, has identified that there may be a further opportunity to trade 7 gigalitres of water a year through more investment in on-farm water efficiency.