Customers serviced by our Rural System have a licence to take and use water under section 51 of the Water Act 1989.
A licence to take and use water can be traded in part or in full, on a permanent or temporary basis.
Trades may be subject to conditions detailed in our Rural Water Trading Rules.
Importantly licence volume can only be traded within the Coliban Channel System and trades are subject to system capacity limits.
Permanent trade out of the Harcourt Rural Modernised Pipeline system, or licence surrender, attracts an exit fee attached.
Buyers and sellers of licences generally find each other by word of mouth or newspaper advertisements. We also keep a list to help buyers to find interested sellers. Contact us to access this list, or use our Rural Transfer List form to list your water.
The Victorian Water Register is a public register of all water-related entitlements in Victoria. It holds records of licences to take and use water, records water allocations that are available in the current season and tracks and reconciles volumes of water entitlements by water system and trading zone.
Last updated on 19 Jun 2026