Barmah Choke Trade Limit Explained

The Choke runs through the Barmah–Millewa Forest on the Victorian / NSW border. It restricts trade from Zone 6 and 10 to Zones 7 and 11.

The Barmah Choke (The Choke) is a naturally occurring narrow stretch of the River Murray that begins downstream of Cobram, Victoria and ends upstream of Echuca, Victoria. The Choke restricts the flow of the River Murray to approximately 7,000 ML per day, the lowest flow in any stretch of the river.

Trade from above the Barmah Choke to below the Choke is restricted to protect delivery of water downstream. This means people upstream of the Choke can sell water to buyers downstream of the Choke, but only if the same or greater volume of water has been transferred from downstream to upstream of the Choke first.

The balance of the Barmah Choke is determined by:

• Allocation trade from below to above the Choke (Increases the balance)
• Deliveries against tags established from below to above the Choke (Increases the balance)
• Allocation trades from above to below the Choke (decreases the balance)

The current trade balance for the Barmah Choke trade balance can be found here.