Water, Land and People - Goulburn Broken Catchment ...

ACTIVITIES and ACHIEVEMENTS
Executive Team Report
Written by Peter Howard and Ken Sampson (dec’d),
Shepparton Irrigation Region Implementation Committee
and Rod McLennan, Goulburn Broken Catchment
Management Authority
Works and activities are delivered in collaboration with
our regional partners in the Department of Primary
Industries, Goulburn-Murray Water and the Department
of Sustainability and Environment and more recently
Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project. Our
links with Local Government form part of the strategy
to ensure a consistent approach to natural resource
management issues across the Shepparton Irrigation
Region.
The emphasis this year has been to link implementation
of the Shepparton Irrigation Region Catchment
Implementation Strategy with various modernisation
programs, especially the Northern Victoria Irrigation
Renewal Project, to optimise opportunities presented by
changes to delivery systems. Much of the farm planning
to date has been based on an unchanged regional delivery
system. With channel modernisation, the delivery system
is changing. This requires changes in the farm irrigation
system to take full benefit of the improved delivery
system.
New collaborations
• Shepparton Irrigation Region Implementation
Committee has worked closely with the Northern
Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project and other
modernisation activities to ensure that water saving
projects are consistent with and complementary to
implementation of the Shepparton Irrigation Region
Catchment Implementation Strategy;
• A new environmental projects technical working
group was established as part of the Groundwater
and Salt Management Program.
Performance
The drought continues to have an impact on the works
programs, especially the Environmental and Surface Water
Management Programs. Funding cuts have limited the
Groundwater and Salt Management and Surface Water
Management Programs.
Works and operations - Highlights
• Whole Farm Plans on 247 properties covering
20,476ha were completed, including ten ‘revised
modernised’ plans, bringing the total number of
Whole Farm Plans under this incentive to 3,716,
covering 253,959ha or 80 percent of the irrigated
area;
• A total of 485 farm irrigation systems were assessed
to link with the irrigation modernisation process;
• Sixty-six re-use systems draining 3,643ha were
installed, bringing the total number of re-use systems
constructed with assistance from this scheme to 549
serving 35,670ha;
• Fifteen automatic irrigation systems were installed
under the scheme, serving 607ha, including seven
for automating outlets from Goulburn-Murray
Water delivery channels, bringing the total number
of automatic irrigation systems constructed with
assistance from this scheme to 142 serving 8,238ha;
• Fifteen landholders received support to undertake
environmental projects and they fenced 29ha of
remnant vegetation and revegetated 62ha;
• Implementation of many of the 94 waterways
grants were supported by the Drought Employment
Program and achievements included 87km of fencing,
protecting 1,397ha of vegetation and 390ha of
wetlands; establishment of 54 off-stream watering
points; and revegetation of 84ha of streamside zone;
• Environmental water was delivered to Reedy, Black
and Kinnairds swamps and the Broken Creek;
• Five shallow groundwater pumps were installed and
six upgrades were completed, with ten new and
five upgrades in progress. Completed works have
produced 1,595ML and therefore 1,595ha of irrigated
land have been protected from high watertables;
• Groundwater investigations were completed at 43
sites, and one was identified as suitable for private
pumping. Three investigations are in progress. A new
prioritisation process is being implemented and 11
sites are on the newly prioritised waiting list;
• There were 5.5km of primary drains and 5.3km of
community drains constructed.
ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
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