The ACCC’s annual water monitoring report has shown wet conditions across the Murray-Darling Basin in 2022-23 kept water availability high, while regulated water charges varied substantially.
The report says this resulted in reflecting the different tariff structures and approaches to cost recovery taken by each Basin State.
ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh says it is important stakeholders are kept informed of changes in regulated water charges and market arrangements in the Basin, adding compliance with the Water Act is to ensure infrastructure operators do not unnecessarily restrict transformation of irrigation rights, the trading of the resulting water access entitlements, or impose unreasonable costs on water users.
Mr Keogh says Transparency assists water users to understand the charges they are paying, the water markets to work efficiently and the policy makers to assess the impact of reforms to the regulatory framework.
