A Rural Water Licence has been issued to each existing Coliban Rural System customer for the current agreed volume.  The Licence authorises a customer to take and use water from the channels and pipeline in the Coliban Rural System.

The Licence is:

• For a 15 year term
• Renewable
• Transferrable

Each issued Licence to take and use water from the Coliban Rural System includes specific customer details and general conditions that apply to all licences.  The Rural Water Licences have been the instrument of entitlement since July 1999.

> Licence Renewal

At any time during the 15 year period of the licence, you may apply to Coliban Water to have the licences renewed.  The Water Act 1989 specifies that Coliban Water must renew the licence unless there are good reasons not to do so.  Conditions of the licence may be amended at the time of renewal and generally the period of the licence will be extended to 15 years from that time.

> Licence Transfer

If you wish, you can transfer all or part of your licence volume to another customer. This transfer can be either permanent or temporary.

To make a transfer, you must first find another person willing and able to participate in the transfer by buying and receiving your water allocation. You are free to use any means available to find a buyer or seller, such as newspaper advertising, landcare groups or through private arrangements.  The price paid by one customer to another is a private matter between the two parties and Coliban Water plays no part in determining prices.

Coliban Water maintains a Rural Transfer List, which may assist you to find someone to buy or sell water.  This is a free service which contains the details of prospective traders including their name, phone number, volume for sale or wanted to buy, temporary or permanent, etc.

If you wish to register on the Rural Transfer List, contact Coliban Water on 1300 363 200 and ask for our Rural Customer Service Officer.  Please have your licence handy when you call so we can validate your request.  The Rural Transfer List is available at no charge upon request to prospective buyers and sellers. Please note that you do not have to use this service, but it is available to assist you if required.

Transfers are subject to a number of conditions:

• Customers must apply to Coliban Water for approval of a transfer
• Transfers can only be made to other property within the Coliban Rural System area
• The property on which the customer intends to use the water must be readily able to be supplied from a Coliban Rural System channel or pipeline
• The receiving channel must have adequate surplus capacity
• Permanent transfer to a restricted channel or pipeline will not be approved
• Temporary transfers are valid for the current season only
• A transfer fee of $62.70 applies to all licence transfers
• Processing licence transfers takes up to 10 days
• Proposed transfers should be verifed with Coliban Water before you proceed

Sales water will continue to be made available when water resources permit.  It has a lower security than licence volume.  Customers are advised against relying on sales water when planning and developing their properties.

> Relinquishing Water

You can relinquish all or part of your licence volume to Coliban Water.  Although you will not receive any monetary compensation for the capacity relinquished, you also won’t have to pay any future capacity charges on the volume relinquished or an administration fee.

To relinquish water, notify Coliban Water in writing that you intend to relinquish all or part of your licence volume. This notification needs to be signed by all parties on the licence.

If you relinquish all or part of your licence volume, you will not be able to receive it back from Coliban Water. However, you could purchase more licence volume privately or via the Transfer List.

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