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Water for Rivers is looking for good ideas to save water.
Water for Rivers can invest in water saving ideas, providing funds to firstly investigate the idea and if it remains viable, invest in it in return for water entitlement.
Water savings come in all forms; Water for Rivers is especially interested in large-scale ideas and can invest in ideas within the Murrumbidgee, Goulburn, Loddon, Campaspe Rivers and Murray Rivers.
Examples of water saving projects include;
Reducing the surface area of water storages.
Did you know that in the irrigation areas of southeastern Australia, a one hectare dam will lose more than 10ML of water in a year to evaporation. A dam of about 70ha can lose a gigalitre of water to evaporation after taking rainfall into account.
Returning a wetland to a natural wetting and drying cycle.
The natural state of most wetlands along our inland rivers is to dry out in the summer and autumn then refill on spring floods. This natural state is usually simple and easy to replicate; and the water savings (through reduced evaporation) are often significant.
Investing in new technology.
In some areas, aging infrastructure delivers the water used by farms and towns. Introducing new technology to hold, measure, meter and manage the flow of water to users can stop spills, identify leaks and eliminate many manual on-site visits. It is possible to water your farm from the office computer - and do it accurately!
Using water more efficiently on farms.
Farmers use water in many different ways to grow crops. By changing the way water is delivered to the roots of plants and the mouths of animals, the same product can be produced with less water - a water saving! Some farmers already use drip irrigation above and below ground to deliver just the right amount of water to the plant root zone; saving water and increasing production. Overhead irrigation is another effective way of delivering water. Soil moisture probes can manage the exact allocation of water to plants. Matching the rate of water delivery to soil types on each farm can ensure minimal water is lost when irrigating. And there are lots of other ways.
If you have a water saving idea, we would like to hear from you. Like all programs, there are objectives and outcomes. We will look at your idea and measure it against our expected outcomes. Generally, a project must save enough water to justify the time and money to investigate and implement it. Projects in the past have provided savings for as little as $200/megalitre to as much as $1,400 per megalitre. As a rule of thumb, projects should provide water for about $1,000 per megalitre of high security water.
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