1 / 13

A State approach to ensuring the long term viability of irrigated farming areas of Victoria

A State approach to ensuring the long term viability of irrigated farming areas of Victoria. Bryony Grice Manager Sustainable Irrigation. Main types of irrigated agriculture in northern Victoria. Dairy Primarily in GMID

fox
Download Presentation

A State approach to ensuring the long term viability of irrigated farming areas of Victoria

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. A State approach to ensuring the long term viability of irrigated farming areas of Victoria Bryony Grice Manager Sustainable Irrigation

  2. Main types of irrigated agriculture in northern Victoria • Dairy • Primarily in GMID • Semi-interruptible – purchased fodder and water sales can replace pasture, but not always profitable • Farm gate production $873 million (07/08) • 15 dairy factories operated by five major companies • Over 7,000 people employed directly in farming and processing • 30% of Victoria’s milk production, 20% of national production • Water entitlement holding valued at $2.62 billion • Crops & Fodder • Primarily in GMID • Interruptible – farmers can irrigate or sell water • Hay and silage crops produce fodder for dairy industry Horticulture • Primarily in Northern Victoria (GMID and Sunraysia) • Non-interruptible – due to no substitutes for water, fixed plantings • Gross value of farm production $1.1 billion in 2007/08 • A number of major processors including Sunbeam, SPC Ardmona, Unilever • Over 8,700 people employed directly in farming and processing (2005-06)

  3. How is water use changing?2005 water availability and use

  4. How is water use changing? 2008 water availability and use

  5. Water market facilitating changeTrend in increased trade of allocation

  6. Problem of variable water availability Less reliable entitlements for all • Urban water users • Longer, more frequent and more severe water restrictions • Irrigators • Zero allocations, no delivery of water, no effective carryover trade • Groundwater and upper catchment users • Increased time on restrictions/bans, increased groundwater use, less reliable farm dams, higher proportion of water captured in farm dams • Environment • Less frequent floods, loss of river red gum forest, fewer bird breeding events, fewer native fish, degraded wetlands Trees

  7. Solving the Problem – A Sustainable Water Strategy Ingredients include: • Science – to inform (not drive) decision-making and to help defend decisions • Plan manager – to provide conceptual framework, drive collaboration and engagement processes • Regional delivery agents – to ground-truth information and decisions to make sure plan in able to be implemented • Community champions – to help make sure impacts of decisions are included in plan and make sure community members are engaged.

  8. Reforming Water to enable growth Modernisation GMID/Sunraysia Environmental manager and works Water register Security of entitlements Probity Efficient transactions Enhanced water products Unbundling (trade of allocations critical) Carryover/Spillable water account maximise flexibility, protect entitlements

  9. Key tools for adapting & risk managementfor all entitlement holders

  10. Modernisation – a total approach • Institutions • Markets & entitlements • Investment in modernising public infrastructure • Investment in modernising private (on farm) infrastructure

  11. Irrigation Modernisation Outcomes • Smarter, more efficient and effective use of water • Viable system which is affordable to users in the future • One that supports the irrigator but also the community

  12. A Total Approach • More than the public system is important: • Drainage • Farm use • Impacts on third parties and environment • Legacy of history cost • Supplying world food demand • A total approach enabling irrigators to make the best product possible to meet growing demands

More Related