Education
History of Irrigation
Development of Rural Water Supply in Northern Victoria
Major development of Victoria's water supply and irrigation systems began in the late 1800s. There were a number of key figures who contributed to this development.
Experience during the first 100 years of settlement in Victoria clearly showed that the conservation and distribution of water was of great importance in the development of Victoria. Recurrent droughts proved that for the people of Victoria to rely from year to year on natural rainfall was to court disaster, not only from the point of view of agriculture and stock, but also with regard to water supplies for domestic purposes.
Following the passing of the Macpherson Grant Land Act of 1869, a considerable expansion of land settlement took place in Victoria, but as most of the well watered lands of the state had long been occupied by the pioneers, land settlement was rapidly extended to the dry northern plains. From 1870 to 1875 rainfall was plentiful and the seasons were good, but this period of plenty was followed by devastating drought extending from 1877 to 1881.
The great losses caused by this period of sparse rainfall led the Victorian Government to appoint a Water Conservancy Board. Mr G Gordon, a former Chief Engineer of Water Supply, and Mr A Black, Assistant Surveyor-General, were sent to report on the best means of conserving water in the dry northern districts of Victoria because it was clear that without artificial means of water supply and irrigation, those areas could not be successfully occupied.
Messrs Gordon and Black investigated nearly the whole of the northern districts of the State and prepared fourteen reports, two of which dealt with irrigation. The main features of the reports were suggestions that the waters of each of the rivers passing through those areas be utilized as far as possible within their own basins, and that supplies of water for the dry summer periods should be conserved in the streams, creeks, and watercourses by the construction of weirs and dams.
It was suggested that these weirs and dams should be filled during winter for use in summer time, and that where practicable water be stored in natural reservoirs. The fifth report, which marked an important step in water conservation and distribution in Victoria, was a suggestion for the constitution of water trusts which were to be given authority to carry out water supply projects. These reports led to the Water Conservation Act of 1881 which was amended in 1883. This was the first Victorian legislation in which express provision was made for the construction of irrigation works.
The Loddon United Water Trust was the first of many Trusts to be formed. Constituted in July 1882 its general function was the construction and administration of works to provide domestic and stock supply to a 1,200 square mile area adjacent to the Loddon River.
In October 1882 the United Echuca and Waranga Irrigation Trust was formed, with Stuart Murray as its engineer. An ambitious scheme to irrigate from the Goulburn River was developed and as a temporary measure a pumping plant was installed on the river near Murchison to lift water into a channel system.
It was realised that the water supply position in Victoria was still far from satisfactory and, in 1884, a Royal Commission on Water Supply was appointed under the chairmanship of the Honourable Alfred Deakin. Based on the findings of this commission, Parliament in 1886 passed what was some of the most important legislation in the history of the State of Victoria, as it marked the beginning of a new era in water supply legislation.
This revolutionary and far-reaching Act vested in the Crown the right to the use of water in any stream, lake or swamp, and provided that no riparian rights could be established in the future which might prevent the use of water for irrigation. The Act also authorised the construction of national works by the State and enabled elected Trusts to carry out water supply projects with money advanced by the Government.
In 1887 a start was made on the first national irrigation storage - Goulburn Weir. The Chief Engineer was W Henderson. The weir's completion in 1890, at a cost of a little over ninety thousand pounds, enabled the temporary pumping plant to be shut down. The original hand drawn and coloured plan of the weir is on display in the Tatura office of Goulburn-Murray Water.
In 1889 the Loddon United Water Trust began work on Laanecoorie Weir on the Loddon River and at Serpentine, below Bridgewater, a timber weir was erected across the Loddon to divert water down the Serpentine Creek and into four main channels supplying the Tragowel Plains
In 1890 surveys were made of the natural depression known now as the Waranga Basin. For many years this was to be the main storage of the Goulburn Irrigation System. Owing to the depression however, this work was not begun until 1902, during a period of record drought.
By 1900 there were nearly 90 Irrigation and Waterworks Trusts in Victoria. However, many of the Trusts failed due mostly to a lack of engineering and agricultural knowledge that no amount of enthusiasm could overcome.
Under the Water Act of 1905 the Trusts (with the exception of the First Mildura Irrigation Trust) were abolished, and control of rural water supplies was assumed by a newly created State Government body - the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria.
In 1984 a successor organisation, called the Rural Water Commission, was established. Its function was still to operate and maintain most of the State's water supply system which included storages and watercourses.
In 1992 the Rural Water Corporation was formed, with fewer regions and with greater local management powers given to Regional Management Boards.
On 1 July 1994 five Rural Water Authorities were created from the former regions of the Rural Water Corporation: Gippsland, 
Southern, Wimmera-Mallee, Sunraysia and Goulburn-Murray Water. These Authorities had responsibilities relating only to retailing of rural water supplies. Responsibilities for Headworks were retained by the RWC, and floodplain management was transferred to the (then) Department of Natural Resources.
In 1995 two of these Rural Water Authorities (Gippsland and Southern) were amalgamated.
On 1 July 1995 Goulburn-Murray Water assumed full responsibility for management of the State headworks within in its region and was appointed as Victoria's Constructing Authority for Murray-Darling Basin Commission works.
References:
Brown, E, Irrigation and Water Supply Development in Victoria, SR&WSC, 1954
Churchyard, JN, Pioneers of Victorian Irrigation, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, 1976
East, LR, "Irrigation in Victoria - the first hundred years" in Aqua, June, 1954
Fernihurst District History Committee, Reflections from the Kinypaniel, 1992
Hallows, PJ and Thompson DG, The History of Irrigation in Australia, ANCID undated (c1996)
McCoy, CG, The Supply of Water for Irrigation in Victoria from 1881 to 1981, Rural Water Commission of Victoria, 1988
Pioneers of Victorian Irrigation
Hugh McColl, MLA (1819-1885)
McColl was born in Scotland and migrated to Australia in 1853. He was an early advocate of town water supply, especially in the Bendigo area, and of irrigation for northern Victoria. As a politician he aroused considerable public interest in irrigation development and influenced decision-makers such as Alfred Deakin.
McColl's grand ideas for irrigation development contributed to the construction of Goulburn Weir and Waranga Basin and the Waranga Western Channel.
Stuart Murray (1837-1919)
Murray, who also emigrated from Scotland (in 1855), is regarded by many as the pioneer engineer of Victorian irrigation who turned the dreams of his contemporaries into reality. As engineer of the United Echuca and Waranga Waterworks Trust he played a key role in pressing for the construction of the Goulburn Weir.
In 1884 he became Engineer in Chief of the Water Supply Department and helped design Goulburn Weir and Laanecoorie Reservoir and played a significant part in drafting water legislation. He was the first Chairman of the Victorian State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SR&WSC).
Elisha Clement DeGaris (1851-1948)
DeGaris was born on the island of Guernsey and his family migrated to Australia when he was only three years old. Following his ordination as a Minister in the Methodist Church in 1881 he moved to Durham Ox, on the Serpentine Creek not far from Boort and was soon at the forefront of those interested in water conservation. The run of good seasons which had accelerated the development of the Northern Plains had ended and the position of farmers without a scheme of water conservation was, in many cases, desperate.
For many years Hugh McColl had been preaching the gospel of large- scale irrigation projects, and DeGaris became an ardent disciple. He wrote numerous newspaper articles, with the most important channel of publicity being 'The Australian Irrigationist', later to be merged into 'The Weekly Times'.
In 1886 DeGaris became Chairman of the Tragowel Plains Irrigation Trust, the first established under the Irrigation Act.
In 1891 he left the Ministry and settled in Mildura where he became a prominent business man, auctioneer and real estate agent, general storekeeper, shire councillor, packing house proprietor and leading light in the foundation of the Australian Dried Fruits Association. He lived to see the Big Eildon project submitted to Parliament and know that the development of the Goulburn Valley was assured and to see the increasing prosperity of Mildura and the dried fruits industry.
Ettore Checchi (1853-1946)
Born in Pisa, Italy, Checchi obtained his engineering degree at Florence and with poor prospects for employment in Italy decided to emigrate. He arrived in Melbourne in 1877.
Amazingly two other Italians, Carlo Catani and Pietro Baracchi, who also made notable achievements in the Victorian Public Service, were on the same ship. Catani became Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department and was involved in the draining of Kooweerup Swamp, development of Melbourne's St Kilda foreshore and beautification of Mount Buffalo National Park (Catani Gardens, St Kilda and Lake Catani in Mount Buffalo NP were named in his honour.). Baracchi was the Victorian Government Astronomer for a number of years.
Considered a great mathamatician and a sound designing engineer, Mr Checchi's most notable work was done during 39 years of service (1888-1927), firstly with the Victorian Water Supply Department and then with the SR&WSC.
In his first few years, as an assistant engineer, Mr Checchi did hydrographic work, under the direction of Stuart Murray, which attracted world-wide attention and laid the foundation of a scientific water conservation policy in Victoria.
His greatest contribution was to supply most of the technical data in regard to water resources required in connection with harnessing the waters of the River Murray. It was not until 1914 that an Agreement was reached, based on recommendations of an Interstate Conference of Engineers in 1913. This Agreement led to the establishment of the River Murray Commission.
During his last 16 years with the SR&WSC he was associated with many of the major water conservation projects including Hume Dam and the first Eildon Reservoir.
Alfred Deakin (1856-1919)
Deakin's achievements were marked in irrigation, although he is probably better known as serving three terms as Australia's Prime Minister. A lawyer and journalist turned politician, Alfred Deakin was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy. He played an important role in the development of irrigation in Victoria and in Australian water legislation during his time as Victorian Minister for Water Supply, a post he first occupied in 1883 at the age of 27.
Deakin toured overseas and presented to the Royal Commission on Water Supply, excellent reports on irrigation in India, Egypt, Italy and America. His practical approach to the problems of engineering, agriculture and economics, combined with his enthusiasm, led to the establishment, in 1886, of Irrigation Trusts to develop local works and storages. In the same year, the Waterworks Encouragement Act was passed under Deakin's sponsorship.
In the few short years that he could devote to the irrigation cause, Deakin gave it all his energy and talent. Under his control, irrigation development in Victoria (and Australia) received its first substantial impetus.
Dr Elwood Mead
Dr Mead, a distinguished American engineer, was Chief of the Irrigation Investigations Bureau in the US Department of Agriculture when, on the recommendation of the Victorian Minister of Water Supply, the Victorian Government offered him the Chairmanship of the SR&WSC. He accepted and served as Chairman from 1907-15 when he resigned to return to the USA.
It was on Mead's recommendation that charges for water rights, based on payment per unit volume, were introduced to cover the costs of operation and management of the irrigation and domestic and stock water supply system. The charges had to be paid regardless of whether or not the water was used. The compulsory charge was bitterly opposed by the majority of landholders. Dr Mead appreciated the reasons for the hostility, but told delegates at a Farmers' Congress at Bendigo in 1909 "the inclination of the individual runs counter to the welfare of the State."
Mead was also an advocate of 'closer settlement' and intense culture methods of irrigation. After years of his urgings, and the recommendations of a Royal Commission appointed on Closer Settlement in Victoria, legislation was passed in 1918, transferring permanently to the SR&WSC the responsibility for land purchase and settlement in irrigation areas. Finally the unified control of land and water that Dr Mead advocated became effective and remained in force for all soldier and civilian settlement following WWI.
The February 1951 issue of 'Aqua', the SR&WSC magazine concluded that Elwood Mead, "...by a combination of his training, experience and optimism, .... was able to guide Victoria in particular, and Australia in general, in the evolution of the principles upon which all later irrigation development has been soundly based."
William Cattanach CMG (1863-1932)
Born in North Melbourne and educated firstly at a private school there and then at Scotch College, Cattanach spent six years with the Bank of Victoria before several appointments as Town Clerk at Flemington, Kensington and Essendon. His sound administration skills attracted the attention of then Premier, Sir Thomas Bent, who offered him a position as Commissioner of the SR&WSC upon its formation in 1906. He served as Chairman of the Commission from 1915 until his death in 1932.
His period of Chairmanship was one of great development of water supply in general. Substantial additions to storage capacity totalled nearly one million acre feet and included enlargement of Lake Eildon and Waranga Basin. The area irrigated annually had risen more than 50%.
The period of Mr Cattanach's Chairmanship was also dominated by the administration of Closer Settlement under irrigation. In the Commission's 1915/16 Annual Report it was noted that due to subdivision some 1,500 families had been settled where 120 had previously lived. The Closer Settlement Act 1918 provided for the SR&WSC to administer settlement of discharged soldiers from WWI in areas irrigated, or likely to be irrigated. Such areas in the Goulburn and Murray Valleys included Shepparton, Tongala, Stanhope, Swan Hill and Nyah.
Another notable feature of Mr Cattanach's administration was the leading role he played in the establishment of the great co-operative canneries of the Goulburn Valley - pioneering the field of orderly marketing before establishment of today's marketing boards. Ironically his death followed what seemed to be a fairly small injury while on an inspection of one of the Goulburn Valley canneries.
John Stewart Dethridge (1865-1926)
An innovation of major importance in water management was the development of the detheridge meter outlet. This wheel has become a familiar sight in Victoria's irrigation districts.
The Dethridge meter was adopted by the SR&WSC because it was simple, reasonably accurate and could be constructed as cheaply as any other suitable device. It was installed on all channels constructed after 1912 and today there are over 22,000 in use throughout the Goulburn-Murray Water region.
Born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, JS Dethridge began his working life as a building worker, but following completion of his Water Supply examinations he went on to become Executive Engineer of Goulburn River Works in 1903 and Assistant Chief Engineer of the SR&WSC in 1907. In 1911 he became a SR&WSC Commissioner - a post he held for 15 years.
He was responsible for construction of the Waranga Basin embankment, design and construction of the original Eildon Reservoir and unique design of Mildura Weir and the original Torrumbarry Weir.
He was Victoria's representative on the River Murray Commission from its inception on 1 February 1917 until his death in 1926.
Sir Ronald East (1900-1994)
Lewis Ronald East was the Chairman of the SR&WSC from 1936-65, following two years as a Commissioner. During his record term of office, the capacity of water storages was increased threefold and the area of land irrigated in Victoria more than doubled. He received a knighthood on his retirement from the SR&WSC.
Mr East was associated with, and to a considerable extent responsible for, many amendments to and extensions of the Water Acts.
Just as his first appointment to be a commissioner was entirely unexpected, so was the sudden death of the Commission's Chairman, and the breakdown in health of the second Commissioner. Mr East was appointed Chairman for a term of six months, then re-appointed again and again no fewer than nine times, by four governments, for longer terms up to the maximum of five years permitted by the Water Act, until he had been in office for 28 years. He retired on 31 January 1965.
In an article for the 'The Chartered Engineer' in June 1965 Mr East wrote :
"Engineering is the art of organising and directing men and controlling the forces and materials of Nature for the benefit of mankind."
Mr East was always workshop-minded, and he became skilled in the use of metal and wood-working tools and machines. The badge of the Melbourne University Engineering Students club was made to a prize-winning design submitted by LR East in a competition amongst students in 1920. However, his main interest was model engineering. Over many years, when he could get the time, he made model locomotives, steam engines and boilers for boys who were prepared to make the hulls for small steamboats.
References:
Pioneers of Victorian Irrigation, SR&WSC, 1976
Aqua, February 1951, SR&WSC; Issue 9, Autumn 1994, RWC
A South Australian Colonist of 1836 and his decendants, Sir Ronald East
