Talking Water - Tuesday 19 December, 2023

This week's contents

WaterWell announcement


  • Forward Allocation Product - Customer input sought


Operations


  • Christmas operations
  • Trade on Water Exchange over Christmas
  • Restrictions possible, get your orders in early
  • casual usage charges
  • Changing our banking partner
  • Talking Water data to 19 December   


Business


  • Christmas message from the Chair and CEO
  • Summer safety warning



Industry


  • Managing cows through a hot summer
  • Weekly Australian Climate, water and Ag update
  • NSW Murray and Lower Darling WSP Review



Talking Water is taking a short break! 


This our final edition of Talking Water for 2023. We will be returning on Tuesday 9 January 2024 to bring you all the latest company news and updates from Murray Irrigation. 

Thank you for your readership this year. We wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. 


WaterWell announcement - Forward Allocation Product 

Customer input sought

Murray Irrigation is seeking to gather customer input on a new Forward Allocation Product we are planning to introduce to WaterWell. Management will incorporate customer feedback into a final recommendation that will be presented to the Murray Irrigation Board in February 2024 for consideration.
 
Murray Irrigation is considering the following two options:
 
Option A
 
Maximise the value of the water sales by offering a smaller volume of water at a higher price. This could mean some of the water may leave the footprint towards higher valued crops.
 
This option would sell an annual 30GL Forward Allocation Product through a third party. It would be initially offered on an exclusive basis to Murray Irrigation Delivery Entitlement Holders, before entering the open market.
 
Option B
 
Encourage the water to be used within the footprint and sell a greater volume of water at a lower price.
 
This option would sell an annual 40GL Forward Allocation Product through a third party. It would be initially offered on an exclusive basis to Murray Irrigation Delivery Entitlement Holders, before entering the open market.
 
To choose your preferred option, just login to your customer portal, click WaterWell, then Forward Allocation Product and follow the prompts. 
 
For more information, visit the website www.murrayirrigation.com.au/forward-allocation-product or contact Customer Operations on 1300 138 265. 
 
To ensure your chosen option is considered as part of Management’s recommendations to the Board, please register your preference prior to 19 January 2024.

Operational Update


Christmas operations

Murray Irrigation Customer Operations will continue to deliver services as usual, seven days a week over the festive period.

Call us as normal from 6.30am to 6.30pm, or leave a voice message outside these hours. 

For emergencies after 6.30pm, please call our emergency line on 1300 657 313. 

Trade on the Water Exchange over Christmas

The Water Exchange activity will run as normal. 

The final seller payment will be made on Wednesday 20 December 2023, and the first payment in the new year will be on Wednesday 3 January 2024. 

Restrictions possible, get your orders in early

With the hot weather expected and a large summer program, flow restrictions may occur in channels where demand exceeds the physical capacity of the channel section. 

To help minimise chances of interruptions to your orders:


  • Please ensure you place your orders as soon as possible, and to guarantee delivery, a four-day order notification is required.
  • Consider filling on-farm storages prior to your high demand needs to ensure you can supplement if flows need to be restricted. 
  • Please don’t delay updating your order changes for extensions or increases. 
  • Please report any weed issues in your channel section that may restrict flows. 


You can find more details in our Restrictions and Flow Shares Fact Sheet.



If you have any concerns or would like further explanation, contact us on 1300 138 265 or email us: customersupport@murrayirrigation.com.au

Casual usage charges

To avoid casual usage fees, remember to check your 'DE Transfer Limit' available on the Water Allocation page of your Customer Portal. 

If your DE transfer limit is negative, you can trade in or purchase annual delivery entitlements on the Water Exchange.

If your DE limit is negative and purchases are not made by 30 December, you will incur the casual usage charge on your Quarter 2 invoice. 

Casual usage fees are applied to your quarterly invoice when the megalitre usage is greater than 120% of the annual delivery entitlements on your account. 

For more information on tiered usage fees, please see our Schedule of Charges.


Murray Irrigation Schedule of Charges

We are changing our banking partner from CBA to ANZ

Murray Irrigation is changing our banking partner from CBA to ANZ. This includes both Operational and Water Exchange (WEX) bank accounts.

We are taking a planned approach to manage the cyber security risk during this transition and all customers will have received a letter regarding the banking changes.

What you will need to do:

When you pay your next invoice, please process your account payments into the new ANZ bank accounts.

All customers will have received a letter in the mail with the new bank account details. Alternatively, these can be found on our dedicated web page below. Please add these new bank details to your systems. 

Please note, if you pay via BPAY, the Biller codes will not be changing and you will not have to take any action.

Please visit the web page below for more information and to add the new bank details to your systems. 

Read about the change to our banking partner

Talking Water data  19/11/2023

All the detailed data for Murray Irrigation allocations, delivery, channel flow and Water Exchange temporary trade data is available on our company web page below. 


View delivery, channel flows and temporary trade data


To see the latest data for Murray system storages and rivers, visit the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's River data page. 


View MDBA storage and river data



The information and data provided in Talking Water is for general reference purposes only. We take best endeavours to ensure accuracy. 


Business Update

Christmas message from the company Chair and CEO

As we head into the Christmas and New Year period, on behalf of the Board, executive leadership team and Murray Irrigation staff, we extend our warmest wishes to our shareholders and customers for a safe and joyous festive season.
 
We wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to working with you in 2024. 

Warm regards

Phil Snowden
Chair of the Board

Ron McCalman
Chief Executive Officer

Summer safety warning - Don't swim in irrigation channels

With temperatures heating up and the arrival of the summer school holidays, Murray Irrigation is keen to remind everyone that swimming in irrigation channels is prohibited and dangerous.
 
As inviting as they may seem on a hot day, irrigation channels are not safe for swimming.



Read the company's summer safety warning

Industry News

Managing cows through a hot summer - Free webinar 

Dairy Australia is running a free, one-hour webinar on Thursday 21 of December at 12:30pm (AEST) to provide farmers with information on the best ways to manage dairy cows through this coming hot summer.

The webinar will feature Dairy Scientist and heat stress expert, Dr Josie Garner.



Register for webinar

Weekly Australian Climate, Water and Agricultural Update

Read the latest Weekly Australian Climate, Water and Agricultural Update from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science.
 
The Weekly Update contains a summary of total and forecast rainfall, temperature anomalies, recent climatic conditions, notable weather events and their impact on agriculture, water storage levels, irrigation allocations, and commodity prices.


Read the latest Weekly Update

NSW Murray and Lower Darling WSP Review

The Natural Resources Commission invites submissions on the Water Sharing Plan for the NSW Murray and Lower Darling Regulated Rivers Water Sources 2016.
 
The review will focus on the extent to which the water sharing provisions in the plans have materially contributed to the achievement of, or the failure to achieve, environmental, social and economic outcomes. 
 
Submissions close at 5.00pm on Sunday, 25 February 2024. 



Make a submission

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