WHAT IS WATER RIGHTS TRADING?
* Water trading allows individuals, farms, corporations, federal agencies and environmental bodies to buy and sell water rights
* Under the "cap and trade" system, the Commonwealth government sets a hard cap on how much water can safely be extracted from a river system (Sustainable Diversion Limit), and within that cap, rights are distributed and traded
* People and organisations can sell their some or all of their water rights on a temporary or permanent basis
* Australia has one of few markets where water rights can be separated from land ownership and traded
WHAT CAN BE TRADED?
* A water entitlement, or water license, is the perpetual, ongoing right to an exclusive share of water within a catchment. It can be traded once.
