Australian Water Management Review Vol 2 2013 | Page 86

The program is already used by local and state governments and statutory authorities when procuring services or offering grants and incentives. Resource managers can also use the program to identify and improve irrigation and environmental performance and therefore meet their resource targets. IRRIGATION MODERNISATION SAVES WATER The Australian Government’s Water for the Future program has been a key response to meeting the challenge of ensuring a sustainable water supply in the face of drying climate and rising demand for water. The irrigation industry has been a key partner in this program, which is built on a ten-year investment in strategic programs, including modernisation of on-farm irrigation and water delivery systems, policy reforms in both rural and urban areas. These four case studies describe some of the benefits of the partnership between the government and the irrigation in implementing the program. Growers and community benefit from irrigation system upgrades The processing tomato industry in northern Victoria and southern NSW is one that has taken advantage of Australian Government funding to modernise irrigation systems, and the IAL says that the benefits will be felt both on farm and in the community. In 2010 twenty-one processing tomatoes growers received funding under Round 1 of the On Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program to convert their systems from surface to subsurface drip. Water savings and productivity gains According to Liz Mann from the Australian Processing Tomato Research Council, a program delivery partner for the project, it made good economic sense for the growers to enter an arrangement where they gave up half of the water saved in return for new irrigation systems that are more efficient. “Based on local experience, the water savings with drip average around 2 ML/ha, depending on factors like rainfall, planting time and crop yield,” said Liz. But even more significant to the tomato growers than the water savings as a result of drip are the productivity gains. “There is a local industry data, that show yield increases of an average of around 30 per cent using subsurface drip,” explained Liz. “This was a big incentive for our growers to become involved in the program.”
80 | Australian water man age m e nt re v ie w

As a result of the funding, the industry has increased the area irrigated by subsurface drip to 80 or 90 per cent, which gives them more flexibility with management. “Growers have more options with cropping rotations so they might grow tomatoes in one block for two or three years then switch over to another crop like lucerne or maize for a couple of years,” said Liz. This helps with soil management and is a way of diversifying farm income source. One of the people who took advantage of the funding to upgrade his irrigation system was Mark Hill. Mark owns a 400 ha mixed farming property near Rochester in northern Victoria where he grows wheat, barley and maize as well as processing tomatoes. He converted a 100 ha block that was furrow irrigated to subsurface drip. “I was planning to convert this block to subsurface over a number of years, but the funding allowed me to expand quicker than I had planned and to convert more area,” explained Mark. His system was installed last year and has been up and running for twelve months. The key advantages for him are the increase in yield and improved management. “It’s a lot easier to manage than a large area of furrow irrigation, and I save a lot of time not having to physically check siphons. “The lifestyle benefits because of the time I save also can’t be overlooked,” he said. Mark said that his crop rotations of three years of tomatoes followed by winter cereals will be similar to those of the past but the advantage of drip is that he has more flexibility and tighter control over water use. The system design was done by Matt Binder from Netafim. Matt is a certified irrigation designer under Irrigation Australia’s certification program. This certification program is an industry owned and managed scheme that recognises the skills of industry professionals. Certified irrigation designers have a minimum of three years design experience, have successfully completed a series of exams and follow a code of conduct. Matt said that the system used non pressure compensating tape and that the design was done to industry standard. The block wasn’t flat so elevation differences were catered for by feeding tube down the slope, and there was allowance for a flow variation of 15%.

Mark Hill inspects main lines before they are installed on his irrigation block.

Community benefits Mark is enthusiastic about the On Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program because he can see that it has a number of benefits. “It has allowed growers like me to update and modernise our irrigation systems much faster than we could have using our own resources. As well as that, it is a good way of creating water savings and, importantly, stimulating work in the district,” he said. Liz sees the community benefits too. She believes that the experience here has been a positive one so growers have been happy with and trust the process, and the system on the ground has worked. “A big message is that this is a better option than simply buying allocation, although obviously there is also a place for that too. “The funding has strengthened the long-term viability and sustainability of the industry, and by extension, of local communities. The value of processing tomatoes at the farm gate is $30 million a year, so measures like this that help to ensure the longer term viability of the industry in the region. “The industry is important in the region as a significant portion of the farm gate income stays in the local community, having flow on effects that benefit many more people than just farmers,” she explained. Healthy HeadWaters upgrades irrigation skills as well as systems Queensland’s Healthy HeadWaters Water Use Efficiency (HHWUE) project has provided an important legacy in the form of improved professional skills of people who design, install and manage systems, as well as funding upgrades to irrigation ?????????????????????????????????((0