Sell water under your water licence

Water licences are attached to land and cannot be bought or sold as their own asset. If your water plan allows it, you can temporarily sell water held under your water licence through a seasonal water assignment (SWA).

In certain areas, permanently selling (relocating) your water licence may be allowed.

Seasonal water assignment

You can temporarily sell water held under your water licence through a seasonal water assignment.

Step 1: Check the rules

Your seasonal water assignment will be assessed against the rules in the relevant water management protocol for your water plan.

If you are unsure about the rules and requirements, contact us.

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

Step 2: Find a buyer

To find a buyer, you can either:

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

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

  • amount of water you are selling
  • sale price for the water.

Step 3: Apply for a seasonal water assignment notice

It is recommended that you and your buyer have an agreement in place for the seasonal water assignment.

To seasonally assign water from your water licence, complete and submit the Application for seasonal water assignment of a licence (PDF, 313KB) and pay the application fee.

You will receive confirmation from us that your seasonal water assignment is approved and that water has been debited from your account.

Permanently relocate your water licence

Water licences are attached to land. They cannot be sold independent of land unless there are management rules in a water plan area allowing relocations to occur.

The relocation of a water licence enables a licensee to permanently sell (relocate) ownership of the licence, moving it from the land it is attached to another parcel of land.

Step 1: Check if you can relocate your licence

The relocation of a water licence is only available in the following water plan areas:

  • Barron
  • Cape York
  • Condamine and Balonne
  • Coooper Creek
  • Great Artesian Basin.

Any proposed relocations are assessed against the water sharing rules in the relevant water management protocol for the water plan area.

Check the water sharing rules for your water plan area or contact us to confirm if you can carry out your proposed relocation.

Step 2: Find a transferee

You will need to conduct your own research to find a suitable transferee.

Step 3: Finalise the relocation

To finalise the relocation of your water licence:

  1. Complete and submit the Application to relocate all or part of a water licence (PDF, 1MB) and pay the application fee.
  2. We will provide you with an information notice stating that the relocation can proceed.
  3. Complete and submit the Transfer notice (Notice of intention to proceed with application to relocate all or part of a water licence (PDF, 313KB) within 30 business days.
  4. We will notify you of the outcome of the process.

Application fees will apply when submitting and finalising your water trade.

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