In November last year, a pilot interstate water trading project was approved by the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council. This project allows private diverters along a region of the River Murray to permanently trade high security water from one State to another – until November 1997 this would have been impossible. Under this project, solutions will be developed to complex interstate water trading issues so that water will be able to move to higher value uses; be applied to soils that are more appropriate to irrigation; and be used more efficiently – irrespective of State borders. This will in turn help the irrigation industry in Australia become more economically and environmentally sustainable.