Mary River Basin Plan released by Queensland Government

The Queensland Government has released draft plans for water allocation in the Mary Basin in south-east Queensland, which will change how water is distributed across the region.

The Draft Resources Operations Plan covers an area between Hervey Bay to Caloundra and west to Goomeri.

It is the first plan for the basin and recommends changing from a water entitlement system to a buy-and-sell scheme for landholders.

Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) spokesman Randall Hart says it will guarantee water is used where it is needed.

What it does is convert the 530 water entitlements to fully tradeable water allocations.

So that means then you can trade water allocations just like you can land - buy and sell land.

The draft proposal is open for comment until October 22 with the final plans expected to be released mid-next year.

For further information:

You can download the Mary Basin Draft Resource Operations Plan (PDF, 3.9M). A summary brochure and explanatory notes accompany the draft plan.

You can make a submission on the Mary Basin Draft Resource Operations Plan using the online submission form here.