The offence
It is an offence to use water until it has been formally added to your Water Access Licence - in the same way you can't spend money until it is deposited into your bank account. Two Water Access Licence holders near Wentworth in Southwestern NSW breached this rule for four years in a row between 2018 and 2022, with their account going into negative balance by various amounts in each of those years. The largest breach was in 2020-2021 when the negative balance reached 213.9 megalitres.
The outcome
While NRAR understands that the water users were not intentionally manipulating the water market and had purchased water to ensure they did not have a negative account balance at the end of each water year, their actions were still in breach because they used the water before they bought it. This resulted in thousands of dollars in fines. It is the responsibility of the licence holder to know the rules and follow them.
The harm
Taking water when there is no allocation, or not enough allocation, impacts not just in fines and inconvenience for the water user. Uncontrolled water use can damage the environment and mean less water is available to downstream communities and industries. Water should always be purchased before use to uphold the integrity of the water market.