Water Use Efficiency

System efficiencies

With the election of a new federal government there is a lot of discussion about the $10 billion National Water Plan, which was to focus on over allocation, irrigation efficiency, improved governance and data. The Plan identified $5.9 billion to be spent on upgrading irrigation systems in the next ten years. Professor Mike Young has recently said the money set aside for the ailing river system must be spent immediately, not over 10 years, whereas prominent economist Alistair Watson said the whole plan should be scrapped and "replaced by a sole focus on buying water from irrigators" (Weekly Times, 2008).

The overall objective of the National Water Initiative is to achieve a nationally compatible market, regulatory and planning based system of managing surface and groundwater resources for rural and urban use that optimises economic, social and environmental outcomes.
The National Water Initiative signifies the government's commitment to, amongst other things:

• identify over-allocated water systems, and restore those systems to sustainable levels
• improve the way water trade works
• provide confidence for those investing in the water industry
• more sophisticated, transparent and comprehensive water planning , and
• better management of water in urban environments.

On farm efficiencies

Significant water use efficiency gains have been made on Sunraysia horticulture farms in recent years, with wide spread adoption of micro irrigation systems, soil moisture monitoring devices and automated irrigation systems.

New irrigation developments are required under the Nyah to the South Australian Border Salinity Management Plan to undertake soil surveys, minimise impacts on the river and adopt micro irrigation systems.

Water quality

There is very little water quality data available for the Murray River in Sunraysia, Riverland or NSW that is up to date (VIC resources online). Data is collected by MDBC and NSW DPI but has not been analysed since 2002 (Shaun Dwyer, MCMA).

The Lower Murray Landscape Futures (Year 2 progress report) (CSIRO, 2006) developed models to estimate river salt loads and results are that;

• dryland processes (such as tree planting and increasing perennial crops) have very little impact compared to actions that are applied in irrigation regions
• the impact from historical developments far surpasses the impacts from change in the next 10 years.
• Salt interception schemes (using groundwater pumping) can have the largest and fastest benefit
• Irrigation zoning and improved Water Use Efficiency, especially in the supply system, can also benefit river salt loads.