GWYDIR VALLEY IRRIGATORS ASSOCIATION

News & Events

The Gwydir Valley Floodplain Management Plan is due for it's five-year review as per the plan requirements.  The review is to determine whether its provisions remain adequate and appropriate for ensuring the effective implementation of the water management principles.  The public submission period provides opportunities for water users, stakeholders and other interested parties to inform the review of these plans. Comment is specifically being sought on:

  1. Is the floodplain management plan(s) adequate and appropriate for ensuring the effective implementation of the water management principles?
  2. Are there issues with the plan(s) that were identified since commencement and impact on effectiveness of implementation?
  3. Are there potential amendments to the plan(s) that should be considered?


Submissions are due Tuesday, 18 May 2021.

Irrigation Australia - the national organisation representing the Australian irrigation industry in all sectors from water users, manufacturers, retailers, consultants, designers and installers, finds it disappointing that this article conveys an impression that irrigators are deliberately avoiding their obligations under the new regulations. The facts are quite different and comments of this nature risk undoing much of the good work and goodwill that irrigators, irrigator groups and duly qualified persons (DQPs) have undertaken to support the NSW Government objective of accurately measuring water take in NSW

The Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association hit back saying the regulator was out of line in their approach to the media, using untested data from inadequate systems with suspicious timing.  They believe all this does, is confirm that the metering reforms was an overly ambitious and poorly planned policy from the beginning.
(Photo: Federal Senators from the Senate Select Committee members into the Multijurisdictional Management and Execution of the Murray Darling Basin Plan during their tour in Moree, this week looking at a fully compliant, transitioned meter)

Copeton Dam is at 40% and steady and as a result, general security allocations have increased by 39.12% resulting in 54.8% allocation for the year for environmental and production.  Most of this water will be carried over to be used at a later time.

Full supplementary allocations were also made available with up to 116,000 ML ordered by irrigators and 5,700 ML by environmental water holders during these events.

WaterNSW have initiated flood forecasting and reporting following the recent widespread rain and flooding in the Gwydir, Border Rivers, Macquarie and Culgoa.  This replicates and updates their reporting during the First Flush event in 2020.  The most recent update on 6 April revealed between 400-600GL to flow into Menindee Lakes from all the tributaries.  However, forecasting is limited due to the nature of the floodplain flows and natural breakouts along the Barwon River. 
Its great to see so many rivers full and spilling. 
How the water is managed once it reaches Menindee Lakes will be closely scrutinised given the likely volumes and the many competing interests there.  The NSW Water Minister recently said "NSW will be making decisions on how to manage the inflows into the Menindee System with the first objective being to improve water supplies in the Lower Darling coimmunities and ensure the top two Lakes are filled" via The Land ift.tt/3wybHSV.

The peak of the floods in the Gwydir Valley have passed through the township of Moree and are heading west. Many describe this event as being two floods, the one caused initially from local rainfall of between 100-200mm and then the flood from upstream water sources like the Horton River into the Gwydir and Mehi systems, that came at least three-days later.

Local rainfall and unregulated water is therefore, now being backed up by the major floodwaters from upstream, which is likely to result in sustained, major flooding in the lower sections of the Gwydir floodplain.  

All the rivers and creeks in the lower floodplain are flowing above capacity as water spills out.  There is 100% supplementary access available.  During this time, Copeton Dam has increased from 22% to 39% capacity during this event, with a resource allocation likely in early April in response.

There is a history of flooding in the Gwydir Valley and the peak height of the flood in Moree and surrounding gauges is provided on our page 'History of Flooding' and compared with previous large and major floods.

Disaster recovery funding has been declared for Moree, Gwydir and Inverell Shire areas in response to flooding.  

Assistance available under the Disaster Relief Funding Agreement with the Commonwealth may include:

  • help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged
  • support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets
  • concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations
  • freight subsidies for primary producers, and
  • grants to eligible non-profit organisations.
To apply for a concessional loan or grant, contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593 or visit www.raa.nsw.gov.au

Further information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website at www.disasterassist.gov.au and Service NSW at www.disasterassistance.service.nsw.gov.au

Also, we encourage you to fill out the Natural Disaster Damage Survey https://fal.cn/3ecfO. The survey is for NSW DPI and Local Land Services NSW staff, farmers and agricultural industry representatives can use to record damage to primary production and animals from natural disasters.

The Bureau of Meteorology have issued the first MAJOR Flood Warning for the Gwydir Valley with a peak today in the afternoon.  Local rainfall and inflows may mean this peak is earlier.  

Key sites to monitor are the BOM - Gwydir Flood Warning
To watch river levels WaterNSW - WaterLive app or Realtime Water Data
For advice at what to do in a flood visit SES website

For flood comparisons, visit our webpage 'History of Flooding' where we have a comparison of this event to past floods.

Currently NSW are implementing a compliance and licencing reform for floodplain harvesting take, when our rivers and floodplains are full and spilling but NSW are designing it without any consideration to social and economic factors in the communities in the northern basin.
Water users accept that legal limits must be recognised, but decisions on how to achieve these limits must consider the socio-economic impacts on community that’s because past reforms have taught us how important water is to our community.  We know every $1 lost at the farm gate will take a minimum of $2.18 from our economy, it means less money to spend in shops and businesses, less jobs and less families and less services in our community.
None of us can afford for government to put us in a man-made drought while we are still recovering from this one.
We are asking everyone to get involved to help ensure our voice is heard. 
HAVE YOUR SAY and provide a submission to government on these rules via this link, to put our communities back into the picture.
Key in this process is questions 8.1 and 9.1, whereby flexibility to have access to a flood is essential for our community.  We estimate the community impact of this to be conservatively, $1.1B if we cannot enact some change right now.

The NSW Government has released their newest tool to monitor, manage and communicate to water users and the community groundwater take.  The amount of groundwater that can be extracted from a groundwater source is limited. While the amount extracted by all water users varies each year, on average it cannot exceed the extraction limits. Before July each year, the department assesses if average extraction over the previous five years has exceeded the long-term average annual extraction limit plus a buffer (called the compliance trigger).
This tool can help identify risks to valley compliance and given water usage has reduced, the Lower Gwydir groundwater is unlikely to breach any required limits and this is explained in this report.

The February Copeton Dam assessment was completed with no further allocations provided.  All essential supply and delivery accounts are fully reserved and deliveries have returned to on-demand, as opposed to bulk ordered.   The region remains on 15.57% allocation with 232GL stored in Copeton Dam.  

The NSW Government session will cover key information to help you get measurement ready. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions to a panel from the department's Water division and NRAR.

Trade stalls will be held after the information session so you can meet and connect with metering suppliers, installers and key department staff from the floodplain harvesting licencing and approvals team.

Moree
Thursday, 11 March
10:00am – 1:30pm
Max Theatre, Level 1/30 Heber St, Moree
Register to attend this session

NSW Department are holding face-to-face consultation on proposed rules for floodplain harvesting in the Gwydir Valley for the regulated and unregulated water sources, in Moree on Wednesday 24th February and Thursday 25th February.  Due to COVID safe restrictions you must register.  Visit the Department website below.

We encourage all members and associated agricultural businesses to attend to hear about this historic reform and how NSW intends to manage it into the future.   Implementing floodplain harvesting will be a significant regulatory shift for our industry and will have community impacts, ad water users adjust to new rules. 

By releasing draft floodplain harvesting rules and updated modeling results for the Gwydir Valley the NSW Government took another small but important step forward in transitioning this historical form of take into the current regulatory framework, 20-years in the making. 
The process, won't be without impact but will have broad benefits as well.  Volumetric licensing together with modern measurement and compliance, is the only way to have greater transparency and accountability for everyone who shares in floods.  Its why we have particpated in it and its time to move forward from estimating such interceptions and start defining and managing them better. 
The documenation is extensive and includes the modeling process applied to update models with the best information and better represent floodplain harvesting, as well as, proposes new rules for Regulated and Unregulated Water Sharing Plans in the region. There are a range of companion reports on environmental benefits and downstream outcomes and all of the reports are available from the Department's website.
More information on floodplain havresting in the Gwydir Valley is available on our Floodplain Flow and Licensing page.

NDrip Field day

There will be an NDrip field day in Wee Waa, on Thursday 28th January from 10:00 to 11:00am. If you are interested in looking at this gravity powered micro-irrigation system, Please RSVP to peter.birch@elders.com or phone 0428.669.157

GVIA digital technologies and automated Irrigation field day is being held on Wednesday 10th February 2021. Our Covid-19 plan required participants to register to attend. Buses will be leaving Reynolds Fogarty at 7:30am please also register for this. 

DAMAGE FERAL PIGS DO TO YOUR HIP POCKET

Are you aware of pig damage in your crops or to livestock enterprises, but find it difficult to quantify the extent of the damage, and what that equates to in dollar terms? 
To answer this question, Local Land Services has worked with AgEcon to undertake a study that puts figures on the real cost of feral pigs on several different enterprises and to compare control options. 
Join the LLS online for our first webinar back for 2021. Register here. 
When
11 Feb 2021 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dont Forget the GVIA has funds available to support producers in our region with the control of feral pigs. For more information contact the office; 02 67521399

WaterNSW have announced supplementary access in the Gwydir Valley which shares unregulated flows 50:50 between the environment and water users. This is following recent localised rainfall below Copeton Dam between 100-200mm with more inflows expected as ungauged inflows are measured.  Current announcement between 5-20% depending on on your location equalling approximately 14,000 megaltires.  You must place an eligible water order.
An operations update on current river flows is available from WaterNSW.

Recent localised rainfall in the Gwydir Valley means the region is fortunate enough to have generated local unregulated inflows below Copeton Dam.  The flow rate and volume means localised flooding will occur and moderate and minor flood warnings have been issues for some sections of the river.
These natural inflows come at a time when general security users are on just 5% allocation and Copeton Dam is at 13%.  Current interested general security users were receiving their allocation in bulk to reduce losses, this has provided connectivity in most sections of the river.
Our water sharing plan rules set a clear and transparent process to ensure flows for connectivity and our internationally recognised wetlands, whilst sharing any surplus water to benefit our community, it’s people and it’s economy.   

The BOM also provided flood warnings in the Gwydir Valley, on the Gwydir River at Gravesend a minor warning with moderate downstream of Pallamallawa and minor warning for the Mehi River.  Flows are estimated to be above the safe operating level of river infrastructure and will be largely unmanageable. They will naturally flow towards the watercourse area to peak at this stage Friday evening.
Keep updated via the BOM flood watch and be safe. 

If you become aware that your meter is not working or is faulty, it is your responsibility to register using a s.91i self reporting process within 24 hours . You have 21 days then to have a Duly Qualified Person inspect your meter.  This process is also to be used if you have recently installed an approved local intelligence device (telemetry unit) as per the NSW non-urban Metering Rules and for some reason it is not connecting to the Data Acquisition Service or functioning correctly.
Provided you have a fully functioning water meter with data logging capability or are keeping appropriate records according to your licence conditions of water take, time, volume and purpose, you are not required to lodge a s.91i self report to access water ordered during this upcoming bulk delivery, even if you are awaiting final validation of your meter or install of your telemetry according to the new NSW non-urban Metering rules.
This delivery presents an opportunity for water users with approved water orders, to undertake flow testing and operational checks required to finalise your validation process, please let your DQP know your delivery schedule. 
You must keep records of your effort to be compliant by your required deadline according to NRAR's Compliance Approach  and the proposed industry implementation schedule.

WaterNSW today advised that with low volumes of water available and continued hot, dry conditions, the single block release for 2020/21 general security deliveries in the Gwydir Valley will be brought forward.  
The revised dates for the block release from Copeton Dam are:
Releases will commence on Friday 26 November 2020, and
Releases will cease around 24 December 2020.
Orders must be placed prior to 18 December 2020 via iWAS or calling the helpdesk via 1300 662 077.  For users West of Moree place your orders ASAP to help ensure effecient delivery.

As part of the NSW Government's commitment to regulating and measuring floodplain harvesting, changes to the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018 to include floodplain harvesting requirements are being proposed.

The proposed changes aim to improve the management of floodplain harvesting across NSW and will:

  • allow for floodplain harvesting licences to be issued,  
  • apply measurement requirements to floodplain harvesting, in line with NSW Government’s Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy
  • establish a state-wide exemption for tailwater return drains
  • ensure water users are confident in what can and cannot be taken from a floodplain prior to licenses being issued.   
Submissions 20 December 2020.

After not being able to plant our irrigation efficiency trial last season due to no water, it is great to now have crops in the ground for this season. The trial will include a look at the new surface drip system from Netafim, a new EnviroNode Farm Automation Controller on the Smart Siphons, the lateral system, the original bankless system and the new fully automated bankless system with Padman Stops auto winches. 

The Darling River in the northern basin contributes on average about 14 per cent of the total flow in the River Murray (the southern basin) at the point where the Darling enters the Murray.
In reality, most years do not deliver an average contribution from the Darling River. Averages mask extreme fluctuations in Darling flows, which are driven by the ephemeral and dynamic, boom and bust nature of rainfall in the northern Basin.
This means that major changes to inflows from the northern basin have only minor impacts on total Murray inflows. For example, DPIEW recently stated in an update to stakeholders that a 10% reduction in inflows from the Lower Darling would result in only a 1.4% reduction in total inflows to the River Murray.
The greatest influence on NSW allocations is the flow from the upper Murray catchments.

GVIA vice chair Jim Cush, who also farms in the NSW Border Rivers and the Namoi, is relieved the Healthy Floodplains project - established to oversee the licencing - is nearing its end.
"It's been a long time coming, especially considering it started with the River Management Committee discussions that committed to licencing during the development of our first water sharing plan in the early 2000s," he said.
"The Department is finally getting its act together."
Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association (GVIA) has welcomed the state government's commitment to moving forward with its management of overland flow with the release of draft accounting rules and floodplain licensing outcomes for the Border Rivers, the first of the five valley's.

NSW DPIE recently announced no further allocations for the Gwydir Valley.  Total water available remains at 37,000 megalitres  for general security  irrigation and 44 megalitres for environmental users after 5,000 megalitres of high security allocation was transferred into their general security account.  The essential supplies account is now 4,000 megalitres in deficit, which will need to be addressed prior to any new allocations.
Water NSW announced that unless conditions improve a single block release for general security allocations will be scheduled for 7 December and continue for approximately 28 days.  General security water will need to be stored on-farm as used as required.
(Photo: irrigated wheat prior to harvest, west Moree, NSW by Lou Gall).

Water NSW have reopened the bulk water delivery planning survey until 30 October 2020. Please take the time to complete this short survey to lodge an expression of interest (EOI) for any future supplementary events that occur this water year and to tell WaterNSW about your regulated river water requirements for the season ahead including stock and domestic needs. 

Do not complete this survey if you have already.  They will collate the information to help determine water requirements for the upcoming season.  With less than 37GL of water to deliver for irrigators, orders will be grouped together to limit losses and you will be required to take water in a block and store water on-farm, if you want to access it.  We will also work with environmental water users to coordinate where possible.

Urgent and due by 30 October 2020.

A reminder to members regarding their responsibilities for keep log books as part of the mandatory conditions for their licences, which can differ for Regulated, Unregulated and Groundwater users depending on the water source.  It is best that water users are familiar with these conditions, which can be accessed via searching the NSW Water Register and selecting the first search option and either searching your WAL or you licence number (90AL).  For more information visit our page.

Irrigation Australia has announced the first dates for the NSW subsidised storage meter installation and validation courses.  To ensure you have a compliant storage meter with the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy, your storage meter must be inspected and or new approved meter, installed by someone that has completed this course.  

There is an information session being held for installers and suppliers to learn more on Thursday, 22 October 2020 10:30am-12:30pm and you need to register online at https://kapara.rdbk.com.au/landers/b01851.html  For more information visit Irrigation Australia website or review the Healthy Floodplains Measurement page.

Copeton Dam is at 16.3% capacity with all essential supplies reserved for two years.  General security and environmental allocations total 5.07% for the year with 38,000 megalitres available to irrigators and 39,000 megalitres available to environmental water users.  This does not include any allocation available as high security which is 13,000 megalitres for irrigators and 5,700 megalitres for environmental water users.

WaterNSW are intending to operate via one bulk delivery for general security customers - please complete the survey or contact WaterNSW to ensure your needs are considered.

Industry has developed a 'Metering Implementation Schedule' to capture your farm information in relation to surface water, groundwater and floodplain harvesting metering and measurement. Its purpose is two-fold and it is a priority for all water users that fall within the first metering deadline of 1 December 2020 and who have eligible floodplain harvesting ROIs. The document will capture data to inform industry progress, future timelines and existing measures in place to meter and measure take. 
There are no other government systems in place to capture this information and it is important indsutry, government and the community can collect data to understand the progress made towards NSW new metering rules and the market challenges in meeting them.  For this reason, we request you send the completed form back to your industry group for collation.  

Many farms in the Gwydir Valley have gravity components internally, however there are limited numbers of gravity diversions for the purposes of accessing either regulated or unregulated water. You need to check your Works Approval via WaterNSW register selecting A particular water licence or approval (including conditions) if you know your 90AL number OR A particular property (in relation to water licences or approvals) to find your 90AL number using your Lot and DP.  
Then see what has been listed there - if it says diversion channel you have until 1 December 2021 to ensure your meter meets the new metering rules.  If not, you must meet the requirements for larger than 500mm pumps by this December or for smaller sites, 1 December 2021.
NOTING as per WSPs the metering installation can be located anywhere between the point of extraction and the first inlet/outlet locations.    

The NSW Government released their 20- 40-year draft Gwydir Regional Water Strategy to look at how to improve regional water security, build resilience and stronger communities and environments. It is about how to best manage the challenges that are facing the Gwydir region. This strategy looks at historical and a worst case scenario of climatic sequence as part of the assessment of challenges that may face the region.  The strategy provides a long list of proposed projects, both infrastructure, rules-based, research and review and skills orientated, to be considered by the community.  These should be reviewed by the community as a chance to have a say on future investment in the region.  

There is a live webinar on 15 October 2020 and face-to-face meetings in Moree on 22 October 2020.

Not all pipe diameters have AS4747 pattern approved meters available (see current list).  For example, whilst there is a meter approved to 1800mm it is only manufactured in 200mm diameter increments.  We encourage you to seek transitional arrangements for your existing meter provided it can meet those requirements available here.
Where that is not an option, you can request a S.233 of the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018 from the Minister.
We have developed a template that captures the required site information and the evidence needed from your Certified Meter Installer to support why a metering solution is not currently available.  For example this has been used for a 1500mm pipe where there is not a pattern approved meter currently on the market.
Where this situation may apply to you, you should act quickly to seek the exemption before the required deadline.  Please contact the office to discuss.
Members click the link to see the metering updates.

The NSW Legislative Council (Upper House) recently supported a disallowance motion to rescind the NSW Government’s Water Management (General) Amendment (Exemptions for Floodplain Harvesting) Regulation 2020 the “exemption” on water users needing to hold a water licence to utilise their approved floodplain works as of 3 July 2008 (eligible floodplain harvesting works), to collect overland flow.  The small steps in improving the regulation of FPH made by the exemption decision have been wound back, at a time when all stakeholders want to move forward and have  ensure water take is accountable, measured, transparent and within the allowable limits

So what does it mean? Who does it impact or benefit? Where to from here?

Tonight, the NSW Legislative Council voted to redact the Exemption Regulation on floodplain harvesting following the tabling of the Inquiry Report here.

This means FPH regulation now reverts back to the NSW Water Act 1912 and NSW Government has less tools to manage its take, including limiting the use of structures built after 2008.  The historical status quo has now been returned.  

The decision will divide NSW communities and is a distraction from what the NSW Government should be focusing on, which is the better regulation of this form of take within the  contemporary legislative framework of the NSW Water Management Act 2000.  

This decision doesn't impact water users as we clearly outlined in our submission but seeks to further undermine the communities confidence in water management in NSW through miss-information and petty politics.  

Only a fully implemented licencing regime with monitoring and compliance will address those concerns. Most speakers participating in the debate supported regulation through licencing,  due (before tonight) by July 2021 and we welcome their support of its continued implementation.

A positive move by NRAR to visit the region and talk first hand about the upcoming metering deadline for 1 December 2020. We hope the Department and Minister follows your lead.

There’s a clear communication gap with these new rules and future FPH rules, impacting many. We support NRAR taking up this gap and providing improved communication to water users.

To find our more if 1 December 2020 deadline applies to you, check out our website https://www.gvia.org.au/…/water-man…/water-take-measurement/ and members log into our member page for a detailed breakdown of steps.

NSW DPIE announced a 3.07% allocation this month for General Security users, including the environment following inflows into Copeton Dam (which was at time at 16%).  This brings the total allocation for 2020 to 4.77% and the total volume of water available to General S ecurity irrigators to 37GL with environmental holdings at 38GL.

Ordering/deliveries will not be on demand and users should complete the WaterNSW survey to indicate your needs to coordinate bulk delivery. 

Remember, every 1% that Copeton Dam rises equates to an estimated 1.89% General Security allocation.

Save the Date: The GVIA will host the Smarter Irrigation for Profit 2 field day on Wednesday the 10th of February 2021. We will be having the field day at Keytah, where several of our Smarter Irrigation researchers and partners will be talking about new technology, smart sensing and remote control. Follow the link to the website for more information on Smarter irrigation for Profit 2

The Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association will host an online Annual General Meeting on 30th September 2020, starting at 10am.  The AGM will be followed by a General Meeting until 12pm.  The location will be the GVIA office, 100 Balo Street Moree.  Our COVID Safe Plan restricts the number of attendees and as a result, we will be providing an online option via Microsoft Teams for video conferencing or dial in.  Members must RSVP to either secure a seat in the office or receive their personal conference link.  Nominations for the GVIA Committee are being received, please see the link below to access the nomination form.  All financial members as of June 2020 are eligible to nominate.

NSW DPIEW have released a new guide: 'What water users need to know' about the NSW non-urban metering reforms.  This handy tool outlines the required steps for water users to take to ensure they are compliant by the required due date, the first of which  is 1 December 2020. New telemery devices have also been added to the list of approved devices, which we are informed can be ordered via your supplier. 
Local certified meter installers can be located via the Irrigation Australia website and searching for a CMI:  https://www.irrigationaustralia.com.au/ 

GVIA Provides Submission into the Independant Assessment into the Norther Basin First Flush

GVIA providing a submission into the Independent Panel's Assessment of the Northern Basin First Flush saying.

The Northern Basin 2020 First Flush event was unprecedented in uniting stakeholders around the Northern Basin in demanding the NSW Government do better at managing competing critical needs in times of drought. It became obvious that during the event, in the absence of a clear and transparent set of rules that set a strong framework to address competing critical needs in the well-defined scope of the public interest, the event would be seen as unduly influenced by one or another set of stakeholders.

With this in mind, we largely support the recommendations proposed by the panel. However, we do offer a number of suggestions to be considered in the process of refining the final report included opportunities to improve data gaps and improve the information base for future discussions. Of importance is an independent and thorough assessment of flow outcomes and alternative scenarios. Without fully understanding a range of scenarios, we cannot fully objectively review the event and properly inform any future debate about improved frameworks. Without this information we may very well focus on a range of reforms that may or may not be required.

Here is our first reminder regarding the first deadline for the NSW Non-urban water metering reform for larger than 500mm surface water pump installation is quickly arriving, with all works finalised by 1 December 2020.

It is important that everyone assess using the NSW Government's  Metering Tool whether you are required to have your surface water metering work checked and validated or a replacement meter installed with telemetry by this date.   All water users must assess their obligations and MAKE DUE EFFORT to meet these obligations in the required timeframe.

NSW DPIEW announced a 1.7% allocation to General Security and environmental water holders for the end of July 2020.  This brings total available water to General Security water users to 22,000ML with environmental water holders having 34,000 ML, not including high security water.  Copeton Dam is holding 14.7% capacity with essential supplies secured for two-years.

This means now every 1% that Copeton Dam increases by can equate to an estimated 1.89% allocation for General Security and environmental water holders.

The NSW Government has launched the Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy 2020 for the northern Murray–Darling Basin - Wednesday, 19 August 2020, 10:30am - 12:30pm.

The policy applies to landholders in the northern Murray–Darling Basin who will receive a floodplain harvesting water-access license under the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Policy (2018) in 2021 and will allow water harvested from northern Basin floodplains to be accurately and reliably measured for the first time.

The NSW Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy will be rolled out in stages and water users will be required to comply with the floodplain harvesting measurement rules by July 2021 or July 2022, depending on their onsite storage capacity.

The NSW Government released the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy 2020. This announcement provides one of the missing pieces to understand how NSW plan to manage this access under a licencing regime, which is due for implementation by 1 July next year in the Gwydir Valley. We e have been calling on the policy for some time, so that water users have due time to meet their obligations.
“The policy is an ambitious program but an important step forward in water management that our local industry has been committed for a long time to achieve.”
Photo: Storage device already installed on an empty storage, waiting for the drought to break.

Follow the link to the recent GRDC Irrigation update with input from Nick Gillingham from Keytah and Lou Gall from GVIA. There was also a great presentation from Matthew Harrison on WaterCan Profit. Thank you to GRDC and ICAN for the opportunity to participate. 

Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase II is a partnership between the irrigation industry, research organisations and farmer groups, the objective of which is to improve the profit of over 4,000 cotton, dairy, rice, grains and sugar irrigators. There are 14 sub projects including: New irrigation technologies such as new sensors, advanced analytics to improve irrigation scheduling and strategies to reduce water storage evaporation. Cost effective, practical automated irrigation systems and a network of 36 farmer led optimised irrigation sites such as Keytah here in the Gwydir. We have just launched our new web page for of videos and project information. .  

Feral Pig management support

The Feral Pig monitoring program supported by the NSW Government and the NW LLS is drawing to a close. We have conducted a range of monitoring and management activities including collaring and tagging pigs, trapping and shooting.  As we move into our winter cropping season pig damage will become more evident, especially as many pregnant sows have been observed. The GVIA can provide support to local landholders who participate in group control activities and would appreciate information on crop damage caused by feral pigs. Please contact us for more information. 

An independent panel has released a draft report on the management of the 2020 northern Murray-Darling Basin first flush event that restricted access in the Gwydir Valley to unregulated, supplementary and floodplain harvesting in February 2020. 
The panel is seeking community feedback on its draft report following an earlier public consultation in May 2020 and are hosting an online webinar with their draft results on Monday, 27 July at 1pm. 
Its encouraged all members should participate.
Limited capacity is available in the GVIA office to attend due to COVID restrictions, please contact the office.

NSW Department has announced the starting allocations for water users for the new water year 2020-2021 with all water users (Stock and Domestic, Towns, High Security, Supplementary and Unregulated  in the surface water systems and Groundwater) receiving 100% except General Security users.  General Security water users have access to ongoing carryover water of 12GL for water users  and 31GL for environmental water holders via the NSW DPIE-W.

The department, together with WaterNSW, will be holding public information sessions via webinar during May and June 2020 with the session for the Norther region, including the Gwydir on 28 May 2020. See the link below to register for this presentation.

The sessions will provide an update on the water availability outlook, climatic trends, system flows and storages levels. Lessons learnt from the current drought and the impacts of drought on groundwater will be discussed, as well as ongoing support available for communities.

Water availability including prospects for allocations for the new water year starting July 1 2020 will also be discussed.

The NSW Government has appointed an independent panel to assess what improvements can be made to better manage the use, communication and application of temporary restrictions like those used in February 2020.   These restrictions were used to manage the first major water flows following rainfall across the northern Murray-Darling after record drought conditions.

The panel is now seeking feedback from the community on their views and experiences in relation to the first flush event and suggestions on the future management of these events. They invite you to make a submission or give your feedback by completing the survey available on the review website.  

The GVIA will be providing our own feedback via this survey, and we encourage members and all stakeholders affected by these events, to directly provide their own individual experiences and feedback to the panel.   

DPIE-W announced the Gwydir Valley received it’s first allocation since February 2018 with 1.9% allocation (or 10.56GL) issued to water users including the environment.  Inflows into Copeton Dam since February this year are greater than 60% of the total inflows into the dam over the last 2.5 years. 

The allocation announcement together with a full reserve essential supplies reserve (for two years) in Copeton Dam and recent supplementary availability below the dam, signals for the first-time in years that the whole catchment has a good soil moisture and any rain should generate flows into our river systems.  Whilst the drought hasn’t broken, it’s a good start for water users and the region.       

In a world first, the government is using LiDAR to construct images to estimate the volume of floodplain harvesting captured in private water storages in the Northern Basin valleys as reported in The Land last week.  The article said "There is a combined capacity of 1450 gigalitres within 1386 private on-farm storages across the Northern Basin, which are filled infrequently and only during wet periods." and Minister for Water, Ms Pavey said "...the department is able to determine both the capacity and volume held in private on-farm storages with much greater accuracy....Using this technology, we were able to assess the volume of floodplain harvesting was around 20GL during this time [the temporary restriction in February 2020]. Now, over 380GL has made it to the Menindee Lakes, reconnecting the Lower Darling to the Murray River for the first time since 2016," she said. 
We think it's important that the NSW Government release results like this, to build confidence and show their significant investment in FPH monitoring and compliance. As we know, floodplain harvesting opportunity arises in a flood, when there is plenty of water available for everyone.  These results demonstrates this fact, with take only 5% of the total flow measured at Menindee Lakes, more than 1000km of river channel and floodplain downstream, with no impact to the achievement of the targets for critical needs required at the time.

As the current season is drawing to a close and winter planting is getting underway, the Smarter Irrigation for Profit researchers are looking to see  what you want to know more about with regards irrigation. We have developed a 4 question survey and would love your input. 
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SIP2_Webinar

With recent catchment rainfall, water availability has improved across the catchment with inflows into Copeton Dam as well as approximately 10% Supplementary allocation available from inflows below the Dam.  The region has moved down to Stage 2 for Drought Management, due to the forecast of 2-years supply of all essential water requirements including towns.  A small deficit for General Security delivery remains and must be addressed prior to any new allocations.

NSW Government has released the draft Terms of Reference into their Independent Assessment into the First Flush in the northern basin -  the management and communication of  temporary restrictions implemented in February 2020 to achieve flow outcomes within the valley and downstream in the Barwon-Darling. There is an opportunity to provide input into the review via a multi-step submission process, starting with the Terms of Reference. The GVIA will be working on suggestions to improve the terms including ensuring the panel has relevant technical input into the effectiveness of the event by considering northern basin hydrology and flows.

GVIA Office Closed

With the response to Covid-19, the GVIA office is now closed and staff are rotating being in the office. Appointment can be made if required.  Our work continues and both Zara and Lou are still available by phone; 02 67521399 or email. Please dont hesitate to contact us. Stay safe and well. Thank You 

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