Temporary water prices in Northern Victoria and the Murray Irrigation system eased from August to September, but still remain elevated compared to a year-ago. In Northern Victoria, water trade rose 131% YOY, while volume trade in the Murray system was down 43% YOY, but up on the month prior.

Meanwhile, the latest seasonal determinations update from the Resource Manager for northern Victoria increased high-reliability water shares (HRWS) in the Murray system from 80% to 90% HRWS, in the Goulburn and Loddon systems to 54% HRWS, up from 51%. In the Broken system, HRWS lifted from 22% to 27%.

According to the resource manager Dr Mark Bailey flows into storages were a little higher than conservative forecasts, adding more water into allocation pools.