Water fees, penalties and compliance

Ongoing costs of water licences and access entitlement shares

A Landscape Water Levy is payable by holders of water licences and water access entitlement shares, where applicable, under Section 76 of the Act. Levies are invoiced in July each year.

The levy is based on the water allocation or number of shares that are held on 1 July each year. In some areas a minimum charge has also been declared.

Levy rates are published in the South Australian Government Gazette prior to the commencement of each new water year, usually towards the end of June. View the June 2024 Gazette notice regarding water levies for the 2023-24 water year (pages 1852 to 1858).

2024-2025 application fees

Fees for standard applications for water licences, water access entitlement transfers, water allocation transfers, water resource works approvals, site use approvals and notations of interest are:

Source: Schedule 1 of the Landscape South Australia (Fees) Notice 2024 (pages 1249 to 1252). Also see this link for additional fees in relation to applications for: permits and licences relating to wells; other general permits; tagged interstate water trades, and; forest water licences.

Penalties

Compliance action for unauthorised take and use of water

We recognise that the overwhelming majority of South Australia’s water users do the right thing by monitoring and managing their water use within their available allocation, supporting the sustainable use of our state’s water resources.

Unfortunately, a small number of water users take more water than they have been allocated. This behaviour reduces the security of supply for all other users, including the environment.

Under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (the Act), water licence/account holders must remain within their available water allocation at all times. Penalties apply to any water taken without an authorisation or taken in excess of available allocation.

Penalties for unauthorised water use are a transparent and avoidable charge, issued in response to an offence being committed.

In the event that highly recalcitrant and/or repeated behaviour is detected, a range of additional compliance measures available under the Act, such as imposition of additional licence conditions and/or suspension or cancellation of the user’s licence or prosecution, will be considered.

Penalty rates are calculated for each prescribed area with consideration for the market value of water and severity of the offence. These rates vary by prescribed area and act to deter the illegal take of water by ensuring penalty rates are set at a value that is considerably greater than the cost of purchasing water on the market.

Penalty rates are reviewed and published towards the end of the first half of the accounting period for which they apply and are published below.

In prescribed areas where annual penalties apply (that is, areas other than the River Murray Prescribed Watercourse), the accounting period is from 1 July to 30 June.

Quarterly accounting for the River Murray watercourse

For the River Murray Prescribed Watercourse, a quarterly accounting period applies. This means that a penalty charge applies if water is taken without authorisation or a water account holder is found to have taken water in excess of the allocation available on their water account at the end of each quarter – being 30 September, 31 December, 31 March and 30 June. This charge will apply even if any overuse (unauthorised take) from one quarter is balanced in a subsequent quarter (that is, the account is put back into credit).

Quarterly accounting was introduced to mitigate the risk of water being taken before it is allocated or purchased. This is important to protect other irrigators and water users, including the environment. It also ensures South Australia’s compliance with the Basin Plan sustainable diversion limits and avoids compromising water being delivered for environmental purposes by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.

The quarterly accounting periods that apply to the River Murray Prescribed Watercourse are:

• Quarter 1 accounting period: 1 July to 30 September
• Quarter 2 accounting period: 1 October to 31 December
• Quarter 3 accounting period: 1 January to 31 March
• Quarter 4 accounting period: 1 April to 30 June

Declared penalty rates

All areas except the River Murray

The penalty rates below apply for all prescribed water resource areas with an annual accounting period:

River Murray only

The penalty rates below apply for all unauthorised or unlawful take of water that occurred for the River Murray:

Compliance

The Department for Environment and Water is responsible for ensuring that water resource activities, including the taking and use of water, comply with South Australia's water legislation.

Our compliance activities help protect water entitlements and deter illegal activities, such as the unlawful take and use of water. We undertake proactive compliance monitoring to detect non-compliant water use activities.

• View our current compliance operations.

Check your water approval (water licence, works approval) to make sure you understand your obligations. These include:

• not taking water in excess of the allocation endorsed on your water licence/account in any given water use year or accounting period

• if you have a meter, submitting your meter reading(s) on time

• ensuring your metering equipment is not faulty

• only taking water from the water sources listed on your water licence

• complying with any other conditions on your approval.

Our approach to managing non-compliance is outlined in the Water Licensing Compliance Framework. Penalties apply if you take water in excess of, or without, an allocation - scroll up to view the penalty rates - and expiations apply if meter reads are not submitted on time. Under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 the current expiation fee is $1102.

• How to comply with the water allocation limit(s) set on your water licence fact sheet
• Request for waiver of debts associated with penalties due to Exceptional Circumstances fact sheet
• Contact your regional water licensing office
• Search the Water Register

Compliance reporting

Where water users are found to be in breach of their legal obligations, we may undertake compliance action.

We report annually on water compliance and enforcement statistics and targeted water compliance monitoring operations:

• Water compliance activities (2023-24)
• Water compliance activities (2022-23)*
• Water compliance activities (2021-22)
• Water compliance activities (2020-21)
• Water compliance activities (2019–20)
• Water compliance activities (2018–19)
• Water compliance activities (2017–18)
• Water compliance activities (2016–17)
• Water compliance activities (2015–16)
• Water compliance activities (2014–15)