Restoring Our Rivers 2024 - Expressions of Interest

On 30 September 2024, the Federal Government released two requests for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from eligible water right owners in the remaining Southern Connected Basin Catchments, and eligible water right owners of large water portfolios (~20 GL or greater). Additionally, as part of the EOI for the remaining Southern Connected Basin Catchments, there is a 'sale and leaseback' option. These EOIs will be used to inform the Federal Governmnet's strategy for the purchasing of water in 2025. The closing time for these EOIs is 12:00 pm AEDT, 27 November 2024 and the considerations of responses will occur from 28 November 2024 to March 2025.

Waterfind has not closed its expression of interest

Further information relating to each EOI is shown below:

Remaining Southern Connected Basin Catchments Expression of Interest

This request for expressions of interest seeks to inform the Approach to Market for water purchases in the remaining Southern Connected Basin Catchments in 2025. This only includes the regions and irrigation districts and trusts that were NOT a part of the previous Restoring Our Rivers open tender in 2024. This means that eligible water catchments in the previous tender are NOT eligible for consideration.

Apart from the relevant catchment requirements, there are several criteria for this EOI to ensure eligibility:

Proposed prices will need to be included - they can be adjusted within reason after submission
One response per Water Right
The Water Right must have sufficient volume to meet the proposed transfer volume on the day the response is lodged
The proposed transfer volume must be at least 10 ML (nominal)

Sale and Leaseback - Remaining Southern Connected Basin Catchments Expression of Interest

The Sale and Leaseback forms part of the EOI related to the remaining Southern Connected Basin Catchments. A Sale and Leaseback is an arrangement where a water right owner would sell their water right(s) to the Commonwealth permanently but receive a lease back from the Commonwealth for an arranged period. In effect, the Commonwealth becomes the owner and Lessor of the water right(s), and the private seller gives up ownership and becomes the Lessee of the water right(s).

Since this is a subset of the remaining Southern Connected Basin Catchment EOI, the eligibility criteria are identical, with additional requirements specific to leaseback arrangements. These requirements are outlined below

Type of lease
Length of lease
Volume under lease

Large Portfolios of Water - Southern Connected Basin Catchments Expression of Interest

This request for EOI seeks to inform the Approach to Market for large water right purchases in the Southern Connected Basin Catchments in 2025. This includes all regions and irrigation districts and trusts in the Southern Connected Basin displayed in the map above.

Apart from the relevant catchment requirements, there are several criteria for this expression of interest to ensure eligibility:

Proposed prices will need to be included - they can be adjusted within reason aftersubmission
One response per Water Right
The Water Rights Portfolio must have sufficient volume to meet the proposed transfer volume on the day the response is lodged
The proposed transfer volume must be approximately 20,000 ML (20 GL) or more (nominal)