BUSINESS size of the trading area and the more uncertain transfer 80 fou n d that the larger th e process 111 that area . 71 trading area and the more 70 Approval of trade is linked 61 va ried th e wa ter uses, the 60 to the productio n of an 55 54 higher the water prices and the IDMP but there are no 11:9 0K larger the overall benefits from 50 clear guidelines regarding • Very satisfied trade. w hat is acceptable. 40 D Very dissatiSfied This co ntrasts with the During su rveys of water 26 DNo answer sellers and buyers in the 30 situation in the GMID , Goulburn-Murray Irrigation 20 where specific rules exist to District in Victoria (GMID) 10 determine how large an and along the River Murray in allocation per irrigated 0 South Australia , marke t h ectare an irrigator can 4 2 3 participants were asked a have. This provides a high SA-sellers SA-buyers GM ID-sellers GMID·buyers number of qu es tion s about level of certain ty about the their perception of the transfer likely outcome of an appliFigure 1 Satisfaction with information provided by authorities process including: ca tion, especially since • how they obtained informapotential water buyers can tion about water trade obtain approval of purchase Looking at the difference between • whether they were satisfied with the irrigation area irrigators and private before n egotiating with a seller. help they received from the authorities d iverters, i t was fou nd that private Attitudes to the Transfer • whether they disliked any p art of the diverters most often qu oted o ther Asked whether there was any pa rr of process sources, mainly the relevant govern- the transfer process they disliked, 29% • w hether a third party broker was ment departmen ts-the D epartment of involved wh o helped them produce any Environment and Natural R esources of the sellers and 30% of the buye rs in irrigatio n and d rainage ma nagement (DENR ) and then Enginee ring and the GMID said, 'Yes,' but with a variation in response betwee n the regions plan (ID MP). Water Supply D epartmen t (E&WS). In (see T able 2). the Lakes Area, public meetings were a Sources of Water Trade It is clear that the more the sellers are 1nore co m mo n source, due to th e being pressured to sell , the more they Knowledge T able 1 shows how the sellers and extensive u se of government-sponsored di slike the process . A significant buyers first heard abou t transferable public meetings in the development of proportion of selle rs w ho disliked the water entitlements (TWE). Within the fi ve-year management plans in the transfe r process we re in the southGM ID, n ewspapers were the most A ngas- Breme r Proclaimed R egion western region , w here most involuntary common informatio n source. Other (Bj ornlund , 1995). transfers took place and the rate of sou rces were public meeti ngs for sellers, Assessment of Information bankruptcy was the highest. It is also the and farnily and frie nds for buyers. T his Provision region w here th e most comm unity was possibly because many sellers had Sellers and buyers were asked how animosity has been expressed against moved into the area recently for non- satisfied they were with the inform ation wate r trade du e to the expected water fa rming reasons, whereas most buyers they received from the water auth ority. export. It appears that the commercial had lived and fa rm ed in the region fo r Their answers are tabulated in Figure 1. farmers disliked the process most. many years. Table 2 also indicates tha t a larger Sellers and buyers along the River Along the River Murray in South Murray in South Australia we re more propo rti on of th e private diverter Australia, for both sellers and buyers the dissatisfied with the authorities than buyers disliked the process. T his could m ost comm on m ethod of getting inforthose in the GMID. In both areas the be because a smaller proportion of these mation was throu gh newspapers or sellers were generally more dissatisfied buyers u sed brokers in the transfer and friends and family. The buyers got their than the buyers. Aga in, this co uld be were p ersonally involved in the associin formation from other sources more expected since they were often involun- ated paperwork (see Table 5). often than the sellers. Along the River Murray- in South tarily scaling back their operatio ns or Australia, 33% of the sellers and 40% of leaving fa rming altogether. Anecdotal the buyers said they disliked some part and the negative response to evidence Table 2 Dissatisfaction with transfer the survey by many respondents wo uld of the transfer process. Table 3 shows process in GM ID, 1994-96 the varia tion in respo n ses between su pport this assumption . % of sellers % of buyers private diverte rs and irrigators in irrigaThe h igher level of dissatisfaction Eastern district 25.0 26.4 along th e River Murray in So u th tion areas as well as th e three river South-western district 50.0 33.3 Australia could perhaps be explained by location s. North-western district Private diverters Tota l for area
21.4 23.1 29.0
20.0 40.0 30.0
Table 4 Element of transfer process disliked , GM ID and River Murray, SA, 1994-96 River Murray, SA
Table 3 Dissatisfaction with t ransfer process along River Murray, SA, 1994-96
Irrigation areas Private diverters Based on location: Lakes a rea Lower Murray Riverland area Total for area
42
%
%
of sellers
of buyers
40.0 17.6
25.0 47.1
7.1 20.0 36.9 32.7
50.1 50.0 37.2 40.0
WATER MARCH/APRIL 1999
GMID, Vic
% of sellers Advertising, intrusion on privacy Time factor Cost factor Red tape, time taken Restrictions on water purchases Forced sale Disagreement with paying for water Various private reasons No answer
61.8 8.8 17.6 0.0 11.8 0.0
% of buyers
32.3 30.0 20.0 7.5 0.0 10.0
sellers
buyers
1 7.2
0.0
17.3 37.9
10.0 66.8
20.7 6.9
16.4 6.8