Sell your water allocation

Water allocations are assets separate from land, with their own registrable title. You can only sell your water allocation if your water plan allows it.

Follow these steps to sell your water allocation.

Step 1: Confirm you can sell

Before you trade in the water market, you need to check:

the water entitlement viewer to confirm you hold a water allocation allowing you to take water
if you have sufficient water to sell
if your water supply is supplemented or unsupplemented.

If you are still unsure on whether you hold a supplemented or unsupplemented water allocation, contact us.

Step 2: Decide how you sell

To trade in the water market, you can sell your water allocation permanently, temporarily (seasonal water assignment) or by leasing.

If you are trading in the Border Rivers catchment and plan to sell interstate, learn about interstate water trading.

Step 3: Check the rules

Your sale will be assessed against the trading rules based on:

your water plan
whether your water allocation is supplemented or unsupplemented
how you sell your water allocation.

Step 4: Find a buyer

To find a buyer, you can either:

conduct your own research to find a suitable buyer
hire a water broker.

When finding a buyer, you should negotiate, decide and agree on:

the amount of water you are selling
the sale price for the water
if the location of the water allocation needs to be changed—you must complete additional steps.

You can review the weighted averaged sale prices of recent water allocation sales to help you determine a fair price for the water allocation you are selling.

Step 5: Finalise your sale

It is recommended that you and your buyer have an agreement in place for the sale of the water allocation.

To finalise the sale, you'll need to complete and submit the required forms and notify the relevant authority. Application fees will apply when submitting and finalising your water trade.

Find out more about how to sell your mortgaged water allocation.

Complete the steps relevant to your type of water allocation sale.

To finalise a permanent sale or lease of an unsupplemented water allocation:
1. Complete and submit the Notice of proposed transfer or lease of unsupplemented water allocation (PDF, 703KB).
2. We will provide you with a water allocation dealing certificate.
3. Lodge the dealing certificate and the relevant forms and fees with Titles Queensland
  - permanent sale: Form 1 – Transfer and Form 24 – Property transfer information
  - lease: Form 7 – Lease/sublease.
To finalise a temporary sale of an unsupplemented water allocation:
1. Complete and submit the Application for seasonal water assignment of an unsupplemented water allocation (PDF, 240KB) and pay the application fee.
2. We will notify you of the decision of your application.
3. Your buyer will also receive confirmation from us that the sale is approved.
To finalise a permanent sale or lease of a supplemented water allocation:
1. Contact your water supply scheme operator to request them to complete the Notice to registrar of water allocations of existence of supply contact (PDF, 623KB).
2. Lodge the dealing certificate and the relevant forms and fees with Titles Queensland
  - permanent sale: Form 1 – Transfer and Form 24 – Property transfer information
  - lease: Form 7 – Lease/sublease.
To finalise a temporary sale of a supplemented water allocation:
1. Contact your water supply scheme operator and discuss the requirements.
2. You may need to complete forms required by your water supply scheme operator.
The Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers is not involved in managing sales of supplemented water allocations.

Also consider...

Find out about the processing times for water trades.
Learn how to lodge your water application with us.
Visit Sunwater or Seqwater to learn more about supplemented water allocation trades.