Shareholder Update - WaterWell announcement

Murray Irrigation’s Board of Directors approved the company’s 2023/24 Resource Management Strategy at a Board meeting held yesterday, May 31 2023. The Resource Management Strategy outlines how the company will distribute water to customers through its suite of WaterWell products throughout the 2023/24 season.
 
Further to this, the Board has approved an interim budget to support the company through its Business Modernisation Project, which commenced in September 2022. The purpose of the Business Modernisation Project is to develop a diverse revenue strategy that incorporates ongoing modernisation to infrastructure and IT systems to reduce cost, risk of failure of equipment and to enhance security for customers, all while keeping customer fees as low as possible. This project is expected to reach a milestone in late July. All customers will be updated at this time.
 
Murray Irrigation currently faces a $7 million revenue shortfall for 2023/24. To ensure the future of reliable water delivery for all Murray Irrigation customers, the Board and Management are focused on correcting the company’s balance sheet for the 2023/24 financial year and are targeting a Net Zero profit result. The following WaterWell products will assist the company to achieve this result.

2023/24 WaterWell Products
 
Allocation Advance       
No Allocation Advance will be provided. Forecasts for the 2023/24 season have indicated a full 50% carryover and an opening allocation of 50%.
 
Sustainability Product   
Murray Irrigation will offer $7 million of temporary water for sale on the open market to achieve a Net Zero profit for the 2023/24 financial year. Further information about this product and how customers can purchase this water will be released at a later date.       
 
Water Users Credit       
Further information about this product will be provided after reaching the $7 million revenue target.
 
Resource Distribution   
Further information about this product will be provided after reaching the $7 million revenue target.
 
What does this mean for customers?

It is hoped that once the $7 million revenue target is achieved, the company will be able to distribute surplus water to customers via the Water Users Credit and Resource Distribution products. However, this cannot be guaranteed at this stage. Customers who have budgeted for water distributions via WaterWell will need to enter the market to purchase this extra water. 
 
The Board and Management understand this decision may disappoint some customers who have utilised WaterWell products each season. However, ensuring that Murray Irrigation has the ability to maintain its critical water delivery infrastructure and continue to provide a reliable water delivery service to customers is the leading priority.
 
Further information   
For further information please contact our Customer Operations Team on 1300 138 265.
 
Alternatively, click here for frequently asked questions. All other WaterWell resources can be found on our website.