At Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW), one of our main challenges is doing more with less.
There is currently an abundance of water in our system. Many of our storages are close to full, meaning water is readily available and cheap to buy.
While the full storages will hold us in good stead for the next couple of years, when we look across a longer period we can see that the region no longer receives the rainfall it once did.
Climate change is gradually reducing the amount of water available to us and we now play a crucial role in providing water to the environment.
To ensure the region continues to prosper, we subsequently need to ensure we are making the most of every drop.
The importance of efficient and effective water use was evident during the Millennium Drought.
The Millennium Drought was devastating for our farmers and the communities they lived in. During the drought, local sporting clubs played on fields void of grass and households and businesses across the country had stringent water restrictions placed on them.
It was apparent the existing irrigation delivery system was no longer sustainable.
With drastic change needed, in 2008 the Victorian Government announced the largest irrigation modernisation project in Australian history – GMW’s Connections Project.
The project delivered 433GL of water savings. Its success spawned the Water Efficiency Project, which will deliver a further 15.9GL of savings. The Water Efficiency Project is already achieving half of these saving and is scheduled for completion later this year.
GMW has continued to look for ways to innovate its business and support the future prosperity of our region.
One such innovation has been the Total Channel Control system, which increased automation throughout our irrigation delivery system.
A major part of the system involved the installation of flume gates and the replacement of dethridge wheels with automated water meters, enabling GMW to manage flows remotely, ensuring more reliable flows and minimising outfalls.
GMW began work on the Total Channel Control system during the Millennium Drought and has been refining and improving the system since.
The culmination of these innovations has enabled us to provide water for the environment without affecting irrigators’ consumptive pool, all during a time when water has been scarce.
And it has been a shared responsibility that I see across our region every single day. Many of the irrigators I speak to have gone to similar lengths to ensure their own farm practices are more efficient.
Northern Victoria has been home to numerous on-farm innovations in recent years and will be home to many more.
Agriculture Victoria Research’s Tatura SmartFarm alone incorporates the world’s first Sundial multi-directional orchard, an insect-rearing facility to support integrated pest management outcomes, and many other pioneering technologies.
Our irrigated agriculture industry in Northern Victoria generates more than $6 billion of production value annually and directly supports more than 10,000 jobs in the GMID - the largest and most intensely irrigated region in Australia.
Alongside our state of the art irrigation system, our region has an internationally competitive agricultural industry, a national transport hub and a strong manufacturing sector.
Irrigation is the lifeblood of the communities in our region. We must continue to work together to ensure every drop goes to ensuring the region is well placed to thrive.
Long-term vision and plans don’t just happen overnight. They require difficult conversations, listening to different viewpoints and needs, and finding common ground and opportunity.
I am committed to ensuring GMW continues its important role in supporting the future prosperity of our region – as the custodians of the infrastructure and services that form such an integral component of economic activity in our region.