Border Rivers and Moonie water plan area
This information will help you understand how water is managed in the water plan area and how you can access water.
Map of the water plan area
Check whether your property is covered by the plan on the Queensland Globe water plan map (use Google Chrome for best results) or download the Border Rivers and Moonie water plan area map (PDF, 409KB).
What's happening?
- June 2025: Do you need more water to grow your business? Express your interest in purchasing unallocated water from the Border Rivers Fractured Rock general reserve by 31 August 2025.
- 11 February 2025: The Water use report 2023-24: Border Rivers and Moonie water plan (PDF, 583KB) was published
- 2 August 2024: We’re proposing to grant and amend water licences that authorise the taking of overland flow water in some areas of the Border Rivers and Moonie. Consultation on the draft water entitlement notice (PDF, 499KB) has now closed. We will consider all submissions before finalising the WEN, granting the new water licences and amending the relevant existing water licences.
- 2023–2027: Due dates for new meter installations and validations are published. Check your due date and take action to ensure your non-urban water meter remains compliant.
Previous milestones
- 8 November 2024: The Water use report 2022–23: Border Rivers and Moonie water plan was published as part of our commitment to increased transparency of water data.
- 2 May 2024: The 5-yearly Minster's performance assessment report (PDF, 3.4MB) is available.
- August 2023: The moratorium notice for works to take contaminated agricultural runoff was withdrawn—read the withdrawal notice (PDF, 130KB). New works to capture contaminated agricultural runoff in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin will be required to operate under store and release arrangements.
- 20 March 2023: Landholders in the Granite Belt underground water sub-area are required to notify us of existing works that take or interfere with shallow groundwater.
- 12 Dec 2022: The Border Rivers and Moonie long-term watering plan was published. It identifies priority environmental assets, functions, objectives and targets.
- 31 October 2021: The Border Rivers Commission Annual Report 2020–21.
- 28 May 2021: A guide (PDF, 62KB) to help you understand irrigation water charges under the Border Rivers Water Supply Scheme.
- Sep 2019: The Border Rivers and Moonie water resource plan was accredited by the Australian Government.
Water management
Summary
| Type of water | Management |
|---|---|
| Surface water | Check the water plan information below for rules and requirements |
| Overland flow | Check the water plan information below for rules and requirements |
| Underground water | Check the Great Artesian Basin and Other Regional Aquifers water plan for underground water and spring water in the Great Artesian Basin and other important regional aquifers. Check the Border Rivers and Moonie water plan (below) for all other underground water. |
Water plan information
- Water plan.
- Water management protocol (PDF, 4.9MB).
- Access historical documents and plans:
- Border Rivers: historical documents and reports and previous water plans.
- Moonie River: historical documents and reports and previous water plans.
- Access the latest Minster's performance assessment report (PDF, 3.4MB), Check other documents on this page including the Minister's performance reports for the previous Border Rivers plan and Minister's performance reports for the previous Moonie River plan.
Water-sharing agreement with New South Wales
The New South Wales–Queensland Border Rivers Intergovernmental Agreement 2008 provides direction on water sharing and access, interstate trading, and managing flows of streams shared by both states as well as water for the Murray-Darling Basin. The following of appendices have been developed and adopted by the Border Standing Committee and can be accessed via the above link:
- Appendix E1 on interstate trading arrangements (endorsed 31 May 2010).
- Appendix F1 water resource accounting (endorsed 5 April 2011).
Water supply scheme operators and manuals
The licence contains information about the roles and responsibilities of the licence holder. Check the operations manual for day-to-day operational, water sharing and seasonal water assignment rules.
| Name | Operator | Licence | Manual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Border Rivers Water Supply Scheme (see note below) | Queensland Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers | Resource operations licence (PDF, 99KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 198KB) |
| Callandoon Water Supply Scheme | Callandoon Water Users Limited | Distribution operations licence (PDF, 181KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 147KB) |
| Macintyre Brook Water Supply Scheme | Sunwater | Resource operations licence (PDF, 252KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 466KB) |
| Yambocully Water Supply Scheme | Yambocully Water Pty Ltd | Distribution operations licence (PDF, 39KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 138KB) |
Border Rivers Water Supply Scheme
The Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers is the owner of water infrastructure in the Border Rivers Water Supply Scheme (WSS).
Irrigation water charges for 2024-25 and 2025-26 in the Border Rivers WSS are listed below.
| Charge | Rate | Fee 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 | Fee 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part A (fixed charge) | Per megalitre of water entitlement held | $12.93 (excl. GST) | $13.31 (excl. GST) |
| Part B (variable charge) | Per megalitre of water taken | $15.85 (excl. GST) | $16.39 (excl. GST) |
View our Guide to the schedule of fees and charges (PDF, 75KB) for more information on these irrigation water charges.
Agreement for supply and distribution of water allocations
Customers of the Border Rivers Water Supply Scheme are taken to have entered into a standard supply contract on the day the water allocation is registered. The standard supply contracts include:
- Standard supply contract No 1 (for the storage and delivery by resource operations licence holders of water under water allocations and distributed by a distribution operations licence holder).
- Standard supply contract No 2 (for the storage and delivery by resource operations licence holders of water under water allocations.
Water sharing rules
- Check the operations manual in the above section for water sharing rules for supplemented water for the relevant water supply scheme.
Temporary transfer sales information is required to be published in accordance with conditions of the Resource Operations Licence for the Border Rivers Water Supply Scheme.
Accessing water
Follow the links below for more information on how to access water in the water plan area.
| Announced entitlements and limits | The water you can take through your water entitlement may be limited. Check announced entitlements and limits for unsupplemented water or contact the water supply scheme operator for supplemented water. |
|---|---|
| Unallocated water releases | No current releases |
| Water allocation trading | Check the Water management protocol (PDF, 4.9MB) for dealing rules for water supply schemes, unsupplemented water and underground water For additional information on trading in the following water supply schemes see:
|
| Seasonal water assignment |
|
Contact us
Contact the Toowoomba business centre for more information on water management and how you can access water in the Border Rivers and Moonie water plan area.
Also consider...
- Explore the various ways we use science to develop, monitor, review and evaluate our water plans using our interactive storymap.
- Read Queensland's water plans in a variable and changing climate report to understand how water plans incorporate climate science and manage the risks of climate variability.
- Find out more about Indigenous water reserves.
- Get streamflow and groundwater data from the Queensland Government Water monitoring information portal.
- Access maps and water data using Queensland Globe or the water entitlement viewer.
- Find out about river improvement trusts and their work.
- View price information for permanent water allocation trades and relocatable water licences.
- Read about water planning and learn where to find information in the new water planning documents.
- Read the Water planning science plan 2020–2030 to find out how we use science to develop water plans and improve water planning.
- Find out more about water management in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin.
- Understand how Sunwater's irrigation prices are set.