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Improving On-Farm Water Use Efficiency Amongst Irrigators in the Campaspe River System and the Rochester Irrigation Area

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Improving On-Farm Water Use Efficiency Amongst Irrigators in the Campaspe River System and the Rochester Irrigation Area Improving on-farm water use efficiency amongst irrigators in the Campaspe River system and the Rochester Irrigation Area Improving on-farm water use efficiency amongst irrigators in the Campaspe River system and Rochester Irrigation Area NCGRT Technical Report Jenifer Ticehurst Allan Curtis i Research commissioned by: Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) All rights reserved. The contents of this publication are copyright in all countries subscribing to the Berne Convention. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, in existence or to be invented, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the authors, except where permitted by law. Cataloguing in Publication provided by the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678. Ticehurst, Jenifer & Allan Curtis (2016). Improving on farm water use efficiency amongst irrigators in the Campaspe-Rochester district by J. Ticehurst, A. Curtis. Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Charles Sturt University, Albert Pugsley Place, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650. ISBN: 978-0-9954100-0-8 Disclaimer The views expressed in this report are solely the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Charles Sturt University, Australian National University, the MDBA, the NCGRT or any other individual or organisation consulted during this research. ii Improving on farm water use efficiency amongst irrigators in the Campaspe- Rochester district Jenifer Ticehurst and Allan Curtis ISBN: 978-0-9954100-0-8 Acknowledgements Much of the data used in the research presented in this report were gathered through a survey of irrigators during 2016. The survey was developed by the authors with input from other researchers in the NCGRT MDBA project, including: Barry Croke, Baihua Fu and Takuya Iwanaga. We also thank Takuya Iwanaga for assisting with data processing and Wendy Merritt for contributing to the literature review. Research partners in Victoria, including staff from the North Central Catchment Management Authority (NC CMA), Goulburn Broken CMA (GB CMA), Goulburn Murray Water (GMW), and the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) contributed to all stages of the research approach, including survey development and data interpretation The research team wishes to thank the local landholders who participated in the survey pre- test workshop and all those who took time to complete and return a survey. The photos on the survey cover were taken by North Central CMA, Brad Drust and Meg Doller. ©2016 iii Table of Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research context ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Research questions .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 The lower Campaspe river region ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3.1 Physical characteristics .................................................................................................................... 3 1.3.2 Agricultural activity .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3.3 Water sources and use ................................................................................................................... 3 1.3.4 Water trading .................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3.5 Other values supported by the river ............................................................................................ 5 2 Background .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 The Basin Plan and the Campaspe Region .......................................................................................... 6 2.2 Local water policy in the Campaspe Region ....................................................................................... 7 2.3 Climate change .......................................................................................................................................... 8 2.4 Irrigation practices .................................................................................................................................... 9 2.4.1 Flood irrigation – baseline irrigation system ........................................................................... 11 2.4.2 Laser grading paddocks ............................................................................................................. 11 2.4.3 Soil moisture monitoring programs ............................................................................................ 11 2.4.4 Irrigation tail-water re-use systems ........................................................................................... 12 2.4.5 Moved from open channels to pipes ......................................................................................... 12 2.4.6 Pressurized irrigation systems ..................................................................................................... 12 2.4.7 Subsurface irrigation (i.e. drip) systems ................................................................................... 12 2.4.8 Fast flow (appropriate flow) systems ....................................................................................... 13 2.4.9 Centre pivot or other “walker/spray” systems ....................................................................... 13 3 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 13 3.1.1 Irrigation license holder survey .................................................................................................. 14 3.1.2 The survey instrument .................................................................................................................... 14 3.1.3 Survey pre-test .............................................................................................................................. 15 3.1.4 The survey process ........................................................................................................................ 15 3.1.5 Data analysis ................................................................................................................................. 16 3.2 Water savings calculations ................................................................................................................... 17 3.2.1 Determining the baseline water use .......................................................................................... 17 3.2.2 Determine volume of water saved ............................................................................................ 18 3.2.3 Regional scenario analysis .......................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Value of water savings ......................................................................................................................... 24 4 Findings .............................................................................................................................................................. 24 iv 4.1 Background characteristics ................................................................................................................... 24 4.2 Current adoption of WUE practices ................................................................................................... 26 4.3 Future adoption of WUE practices ..................................................................................................... 27 4.4 Likely water savings for the region .................................................................................................... 28 4.5 Where are the biggest gains?............................................................................................................. 29 5 Wider implications of the research .............................................................................................................. 32 6 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................ 34 7 References ......................................................................................................................................................... 36 8 List of acronyms ............................................................................................................................................... 42 9 Appendix .........................................................................................................................................................
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