Water Use Efficiency in Irrigated Agriculture
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Water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture An Australian Perspective AWP Knowledge Framework The Australian Water Partnership is committed to enhancing sharing of knowledge and tools for sustainable water management to improve water planning, allocation and governance by governments, industries and civil society. This knowledge product supports the AWP Knowledge Strategy and contributes to the Australian Perspective Series under the Australian Bookcase. The other tiers within this bookcase are the Australian Journey Series and Guide Series. For more information, visit waterpartnership.org.au About the Authors RMCG is a 30 year old Australian environmental and agricultural consulting business. It provides policy, planning and technical consulting services to ensure a healthy future for the environment, industry and communities. RMCG’s experience is based around a solid understanding of agriculture, water supply, the environment, communities and industry, which comes from working with farming families, community groups, water agencies/local government and individual businesses. RMCG has played an active role in water supply and management changes which have occurred within the Murray-Darling Basin over the last twenty years. RMCG has over 50 consultants and for this project utilised five of its most experienced water specialists – Rob Rendell, Matthew Toulmin, Charles Thompson, George Warne, and Anne-Maree Boland – who have worked in the Australian irrigation water industry for 30–45 years each. RMCG also coordinated a number of other Australian water experts in preparing this document: Campbell Fitzpatrick and David Harriss have worked for Victorian and New South Wales Government (respectively) water policy and management organisations for over 35 years and are recognised as Australia’s leading experts in that field. Clive Lyle, Tim Cummins and Geoff McLeod are all independent technical specialists working mostly at the field and regional level with over 30 years’ experience in irrigation water management. Greg Holland (Jacobs, now with RMCG) is a groundwater specialist with 30 years’ experience in developing groundwater management plans and understanding associated irrigation practices. Murray Smith, Ailsa Willis and Jeff Parish have 20–40 years’ experience in regional water management agencies delivering water to farmers – Smith has been involved in the biggest canal modernisation and infrastructure water use projects in Australia (Colleambally and Goulburn Murray Irrigation districts); Willis and Parish have worked extensively in the modernisation of pipeline delivery systems to horticulture on the Murray River. Liz Mann, John Lacy and Evan Christen are field-based technical experts in agronomic practices associated with irrigation farming – Mann has experience in broad acre crops using drip irrigation for tomatoes and maize; Lacy is Australia’s best known expert in the rice industry; and Christen has worked throughout Asia and Africa on practical farm irrigation practices. Phil Price (Price Merritt and Associates) is a leading irrigation designer along the Murray River regions. Acknowledgements The Australian Water Partnership is supported by the Australian Government and managed by eWater Ltd. Disclaimer This publication has been funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The views expressed in this publication are the author’s alone and are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government. Citation Rendell, R., Toulmin, M., Fitzpatrick, C., Lyle, C., Cummins, T., Harriss, D., Smith, M., Holland, G., Willis, A., Lacy, J., Price, P., Thompson, C., Warne, G., Boland, A., Parish, J., McLeod, G., Mann, L. & Christen, E. (2020). Water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture: An Australian Perspective. Australian Water Partnership, Canberra. Cover photo: Young rice paddy plants (Credit: Anan/Adobe Stock). Printed on FSC®-certified and recycled paper. ISBN 978-1-921543-66-1 (Online) ISBN 978-1-921543-67-8 (Print) Copyright © 2020 eWater Ltd (published 15 May) UC Innovation Centre (Bldg 22), University Drive South Canberra ACT 2617 AUSTRALIA T: +61 2 6206 8320 E: [email protected] waterpartnership.org.au Water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture An Australian Perspective Table of Contents Preface viii 1 Context 1 1.1 Four Australian themes on water use efficiency 1 1.2 Framework 1 1.3 Structure of this Guide 4 1.4 Definitions of water use efficiency 5 1.5 The approach of these guidelines to water use efficiency 8 1.6 Drivers of water use efficiency initiatives 8 1.7 Other critical factors 12 1.8 Return-flows 14 2 Water law and governance 17 2.1 Policy and legal framework 17 2.2 Promoting water use efficiency 18 2.3 The role of water law 19 2.4 Institutional arrangements 19 2.5 Full cost recovery 20 2.6 Water law 20 2.7 Bulk water allocation framework 21 2.8 Developing water markets in water entitlements and water allocations 21 3 Water resources planning and management 25 3.1 WaterGuide 25 3.2 Basin planning 26 3.3 Components of a basin plan 27 3.4 Environmental rights and entitlements 28 3.5 Water accounting 28 4 Delivery systems 31 4.1 Level of service 31 4.2 Canal delivery systems 33 4.3 Piped systems 39 4.4 Efficient use of groundwater 44 ii Water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture: An Australian Perspective 5 Farm irrigation and drainage systems 47 5.1 Surface irrigation systems 47 5.2 Contour bays to bankless channel checks 49 5.3 Sprinkler Irrigation Systems 50 5.4 Centre Pivot and Linear Move systems (CPLM) 51 5.5 Drainage 53 5.6 Irrigation scheduling 56 6 Case studies 61 6.1 Water scarcity and water trading 62 6.2 Sunraysia drainage flows – from 300mm/ha to <50mm/ha 67 6.3 Murray Irrigation and delivery efficiency – from 50–60% to 85–90% 72 6.4 Coleambally Irrigation delivery efficiency – from 70% to 90% 80 6.5 Drivers of water use efficiency in South Australia 85 6.6 Rice and water use efficiency – from 0.4t/ML to 1.0t/ML 87 6.7 Centre pivot irrigation for dairy 91 6.8 Processing tomato productivity – from 2.5t/ML to 17t/ML 92 6.9 Simple practical applications of water use efficiency 97 References 101 Tables Table 1 Irrigation sector – pillars and building blocks 2 Table 2 Techniques used for irrigation scheduling 59 Table 3 Total area under irrigation (ha) 68 Table 4 Average area under irrigation (ha) 68 Table 5 Sunraysia crop variety (ha) 68 Table 6 Irrigation systems in Sunraysia over time 71 Figures Figure 1 Water use efficiency indices for engineering approaches 15 Figure 2 Water use efficiency indices for production approaches 16 Figure 3 Consistent objectives and elements of water reform in Australia 18 Figure 4 Six elements of WaterGuide 25 Figure 5 Typical efficiency losses through an irrigation system 35 Water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture: An Australian Perspective iii Figure 6 Stages of groundwater resource development in a major aquifer and their corresponding management needs 46 Figure 7 Irrigation Essentials framework 57 Figure 8 Dethridge wheel supplying and measuring water to a farm channel 62 Figure 9 Southern connected Murray-Darling Basin trading zones 63 Figure 10 Rice area and price indicator, Australia, 1988–89 to 2015–16 64 Figure 11 Water use by sector over time – Southern Connected Basin, key products only 65 Figure 12 Water use between sectors by climate scenario – Southern Connected Basin 66 Figure 13 Control of perched water table by subsurface drainage 69 Figure 14 Drip irrigation has largely replaced furrow irrigation 70 Figure 15 Dethridge wheel 74 Figure 16 Flood irrigation through contour layouts 74 Figure 17 Evaporation basin for the Wakool Tullakool Sub-surface Drainage Scheme; Rising saline water tables in WA 75 Figure 18 Water regulators fitted with ‘Drop-board’ control systems 76 Figure 19 Centre pivot irrigator 79 Figure 20 Laser levelling using laser controlled level adjustment 80 Figure 21 Jeff Parish OAM 85 Figure 22 NSW Riverina rice production 1970/71 – 2014/15 88 Figure 23 Average tomato yields over time 93 Figure 24 Percent (%) of tomato production via subsurface drip irrigation 95 Figure 25 Comparison of Australian and Californian tomato production 96 Figure 26 Number of growers and total national production 96 Figure 27 Contractor using mini laser leveller in Cambodia 97 Figure 28 Wheat on raised beds in Bangladesh 97 Figure 29 Direct seeded rice in Bangladesh 98 Figure 30 Strip tillage of mung bean into rice stubble; Established crop in Bangladesh 99 Figure 31 The Chameleon soil water monitor in Mozambique 100 Figure 32 Coloured test strip showing levels of nitrate 100 Figure 33 The FullStop soil water nitrate monitor 100 iv Water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture: An Australian Perspective Glossary Term Definition Section Basin planning Water resource planning at a whole of catchment or basin scale. 3.2 Capped resources A resource management tool where the water available for 1.6.4 consumptive use is limited to a defined volume or percentage of the available resource. Any new development therefore has to access water through trade from an existing user. Centre pivot A large-scale mechanical overhead pumped irrigation system 5.4 anchored at one end and so rotating to cover a circle. Contour bays An early development of flood irrigation to provide a series of 5.2 separate bays within a larger paddock each defined by a similar horizontal contour boundary. Dethridge wheel A simple vaned rotating water wheel with a revolution counter used 6.3.3 to measure flows from a supply channel onto farms. Drainage The movement of water from the surface of a paddock, either by 5.5 natural means or by artificial surface or sub-surface drainage. Environmental Rights to hold and use water resources held in storage to generate 3.4 entitlements ecosystem outcomes. Evaporation The loss of water through conversion of the water from a liquid form 4.2.4 to a water vapour – affected by the surface area of water exposed and the relative temperature of the water and air.