Water allocation prices in the southern Murray–Darling Basin are likely to remain low for a third consecutive year, according to the latest ABARES Water Market Outlook.
ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said based on the current climate outlook from the Bureau of Meteorology, ABARES considered the wet scenario to be the most likely, with prices expected to fall to $58 per ML from $67 per ML in 2021–22.
“Back-to-back La Niña years have recharged storages and have allowed carryover balances to rebuild. The volume of carryover available in 2022–23 is the highest it’s been in a decade,” Dr Greenville said.
“High opening allocations and exceptional allocation outlooks for all major entitlements will provide a lot of certainty to irrigators in making crop planting and water management decisions.
“The continuation of lower water prices will help to support agricultural production, with the gross value of irrigated agriculture production in the southern Murray Darling Basin forecast to increase to $6.6 billion.”
Read the latest ABARES Water Market Outlook and accompanying dashboard visualisation.
As part of the ABARES Perspectives series, these results will be discussed in more detail at a webinar at 1:30pm on Thursday 4 August 2022. Register today to secure your spot.
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