Up to 5.3 Gl of irrigation water from the Latrobe River system, for agricultural use, is available by expression of interest to Southern Rural Water.
Photo by
Jeanette Severs
Gippsland farmers in drought conditions and desperate for water have received the same news about additional allocations of irrigation water, two months apart.
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And both announcements ignore the ongoing drought conditions that Gippsland dairy farmers are dealing with.
On April 17 this year, Victorian Water Minister Gayle Tierney and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced a new allocation of 5.3 gigalitres of water for agricultural use from the Latrobe River system.
“Agriculture supports thousands of jobs in Gippsland and the availability of more water licences will help boost the local economy,” Ms Tierney said at the time, with no reference to the drought that had dogged primary producers for nearly a year.
An additional 9 Gl in the Latrobe River system was retained by government to respond to emerging needs in Gippsland.
Fast forward two months, and on June 16, Southern Rural Water issued a media release announcing the same 5.3 Gl allocation of water from the same system, for the same purpose.
In the past couple of months, board members from GippsDairy have been liaising with water authorities to try and determine avenues for supplying water on farm for stock and domestic use.
A map of the region indicating agricultural, domestic and environmental users relevant to the Latrobe River system.
Photo by
Jeanette Severs
GippsDairy board president Sarah O’Brien said hundreds of dairy farmers were in drought and desperate for water.
She said farmers had spent months moving water around their properties, to try and retain their milking herd and replacement heifers, and to support their businesses.
Sarah is disappointed that, despite months of discussion with government agencies, including Southern Rural Water, there is no acknowledgement of the need for urgent water for farmers.
“There is 9 Gl of water that the government holds each year for use in exceptional circumstances and according to community need,” she said.
“Farmers need access to that water now. They need access to stock water immediately.
“So it would be great if Southern Rural Water could create access to stock water and in a more streamlined way than they normally manage water.
“Farmers don’t need more hoops to jump through and can’t wait until July 30 and beyond for water.”
Frankie and Fiona Mills are dairy farmers at Kilmany in the Latrobe system.
Frank also supports the release of urgent water for farmers to use as stock water.
“That 9 Gl is for water that’s needed urgently, and it’s a pity it’s not being utilised,” he said.
Frank is a member of the Latrobe River Irrigators group which has been asking for drought reserves to be allocated out of the Blue Rock dam for nearly a decade.
In that time, farmers in the group have experienced two previous droughts.
“There’s a lot of water that’s been held for the past 10 years, and hasn’t been distributed, that could be used for drought relief for farmers,” Frank said.
Last spring, Frank bought more than 700 Ml of water off his neighbours to help see his milking herd through this drought.
“We were at a meeting with Southern Rural Water three weeks ago and they said they wanted to move quickly on allocating the water,” Frank said.
“We’re still waiting to hear about how that will happen.
“I’d love to buy 5000 Ml, but not at a price I can’t afford.”
The water on offer through SRW is held in storage in Blue Rock dam.
It is from a water entitlement that was originally allocated in 1996 for use in brown coal electricity generation by power stations three and four of Loy Yang, in the Latrobe Valley.
Those two power stations were never constructed, but were allocated 25 Gl of water entitlement from Blue Rock dam.
There are 40 dairy farmers on the Latrobe River system, and about 490 farms using irrigation in the district.
Photo by
Jeanette Severs
Blue Rock dam is a reservoir on the Latrobe River system with a storage capacity of 198.3 Gl.
Now 16 Gl of water from Blue Rock dam has been re-allocated, split between commercial and industrial use (5.3 Gl), Traditional Owners and the environment.
The 5.3 Gl of irrigation water is available by expression of interest to Southern Rural Water by July 30.
In their EOI, a farmer needs to identify how much water they are seeking, and whether it would be used for irrigating pasture or crops.
They also need to identify if they are applying for water that would be stored in a dam, either on the system or off system.
If EOIs exceed supply, SRW will hold an auction of the 5.3 Gl of water in various sized parcels.
There is potential for at least 40 dairy farms to benefit from this water allocation, subject to availability.
Farmers without current allocation from the system could apply for an allocation, either through purchase of property, or through a third-party arrangement with a property owner.
In all, there are currently about 490 farms in the Latrobe basin that use irrigation for commercial purposes.
These farms already use about 16 Gl of water from the system.
The Latrobe system has a large footprint and supplies the townships and rural zones of Boolarra, Churchill, Cowwarr, Darnum, Erica, Glengarry, Hazelwood North, Moe, Morwell, Rosedale, Thorpdale, Toongabbie, Trafalgar, Traralgon, Traralgon South, Tyers, Willow Grove, Yallourn North, Yarragon and Yinnar.
In making the announcement on June 16 about the availability of additional water allocations, SRW managing director Cameron Fitzgerald, acknowledged farmers along the Latrobe River system had been seeking water for some time.
He said the 5.3 Gl would be available to support farmers with their operations and plans for drought-proofing.
Unfortunately, there is no acknowledgement in the announcement of the ongoing drought in the region, nor has the Victorian government decided how to use the remaining 9 Gl allocation, even though it would be welcomed by farmers struggling to grow pasture, fill dams and water their milking herds.
The rainfall in May in the district was decile one.
Nationals leader Danny O’Brien, has stated the water from Blue Rock dam is under-utilised.
“In 2022, the government’s Central and Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy agreed to allocate 16 Gl of unused water in Blue Rock,” he said.
“The government has wasted two and a half years dithering [on this decision].”
In reality, the Victorian government’s announcement in April was about its decision to allocate the unused water.
The announcement in June has been about how the water will be made available to farmers.
“I know there are many farmers eagerly anticipating the opportunity to access additional water,” Danny said.
“This water will help grow our local agricultural economy and deliver long term sustainability.”
The Victorian Government recently announced a $5000 grant, to be matched by farmers, that could be used to invest in water security infrastructure on farm.
Unfortunately, farmers will have to wait a long time for water from Blue Rock dam, given the EOI timeline extends for several months.
EOIs need to be confirmed with Southern Rural Water by July 30.
Dairy News Australia has requested information from Southern Rural Water about the timeline beyond that for confirming allocations, but is still waiting for responses at print deadline.
The Federal Government, through the Regional Investment Corporation, has also announced low-interest loans to drought-affected farmers of up to $2 million, repayable over 10 years, to support water and fodder purchases, fund drought management and recovery activities including infrastructure, or refinance debt.
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