Fitzroy: Water rights
- Water licences are granted under the Water Act 2000 to take water and/or interfere with water.
- Water licences and allocations for consumptive use are administered by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.
For further information on the region's water management scroll down this page or click on the links below:
Operating rules and constraints
- Abstraction of water is controlled by the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy through allocation planning and water licensing arrangements. Water can only be abstracted and/or interfered with from designated areas within the region when a water authorisation (water allocation, license or permit) is issued.
- Resource operations licences are required for the operation of water supply scheme infrastructure and distribution of water to water allocation holders. Holders must comply with these licences for day-to-day operational, water sharing, and seasonal water assignment rules.
- Surface water licences are also issued for unsupplemented water, including water licences to take, licences to interfere, and licences to divert.
- Under the Water Act 2000, landowners in the Fitzroy region must notify the department of existing overland flow works as soon as possible and obtain a development permit for new works.
- Water sharing rules describe the arrangments under which access to groundwater within the area is managed. In the Fitzroy region, there are water sharing rules in place for the Don River and Dee River groundwater sub-area, the Don and Dee Rivers and Alma Creek Water Management Area, and the Prospect Creek and Upper Callide groundwater sub-areas. More information on water sharing rules in these areas is available on the Queensland Government website.
Water entitlements and other statutory water rights
- According to the Water Act 2000, water can be abstracted under various types of licences and authorities referred to as water entitlements.
- Water can also be abstracted under a statutory authorisation without an entitlement for certain purposes only, e.g. stock and domestic use.
- Supplemented and unsupplemented water entitlements are prioritised, managed, and administered separately.
- Artesian and sub-artesian groundwater entitlements have separate prioritisation, management, and administration arrangements.
Water allocations
- Annual water allocations are provided for all water users within water supply schemes. Allocation percentages are announced by resource operations licence holders on the first day of the water year and apply to regulated entitlement holders only. Additional announcements can be made during the year, but the allocation percentage cannot exceed 100% of the allocation volume, or be reduced below the initial allocation percentage.
- Urban licence holders of supplemented entitlements generally have 'high priority' allocations, typically set at 100% of their allocated volume. Other regulated licence holders with 'medium priority' allocations are subject to announced allocation percentages.
- In the Fitzroy region, the water year for licence holders is generally 1 July–30 June, except Dawson Valley Water Supply Scheme and Dawson Valley Water Management Area where the water year is from 1 October–30 September.
- Unsupplemented water is managed separately; for example, unsupplemented water may be abstracted during announced periods based on flow thresholds that ensure environmental streamflows are maintained.
Trades and water rights transfers
- There are three active water markets in Queensland. The water allocation market concerns the trading of regulated water access entitlements. Seasonal (temporary) assignment of water allocations and other entitlements are dealt in the seasonal water assignment market and the relocatable water licence market concerns the relocation of water licences from one parcel of land to another.
- Unallocated water is also available for tender in the region from the Strategic or General Reserve unallocated water outlined in the Water Plan (Fitzroy Basin) 2011.
- Water allocations in Queensland are separate from land rights, and are partly or wholly tradeable on the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy water allocation register. Relocatable licences can be partly or wholly traded after assessment and are specific to a water resource plan or zone within a water resource plan area.
- In the Fitzroy region, trading of access entitlements or allocations do not occur between water supply schemes but can occur between zones within them. The rules for water allocation trading are detailed in the Water Regulation 2016, Water Plan (Fitzroy Basin) 2011, the Fitzroy Basin Resource Operations Plan, and the region's water sharing policies.
- Information on water trading that occurred within the Fitzroy region during the 2018–19 year can be found in the Water access and use note in 'Supporting information'.