Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) was established in 1994 to put customers at the helm of the water industry in northern Victoria.
Thirty years on, it is now a perfect time to reflect on how we have worked with our customers to transform the water sector in our region.
The journey so far
GMW was born out of a decade of intense review, passionate debate, and institutional change in the rural water industry in Victoria.
One of the underpinning principles of the reform program that led to GMW being established was the increased role of customers in running Victoria's largest rural water businesses.
The shift to a more customer-focused way of operating included the appointment of an independent board of directors to govern GMW and establishing water service committees made up of customer representatives from across the region.
This fundamental change fostered greater joint commitment to the success of the rural water industry. This has been demonstrated by GMW’s financial sustainability and the lower customer fees that have resulted from it.
GMW’s draft 2024-28 Pricing Submission exemplifies this. It was developed through extensive engagement with customers and proposes a reduction to regular customer bills before CPI.
To learn more about GMW's history, head to the Our History page on Waterclass.
GMW in 30 milestones
To celebrate the journey we have been on with our customers to deliver for our region, we are looking back at some key milestones from the past three decades.
Each week we will post about a new milestone on our social media platforms, starting at 1994 and going through each year until present day.
Below are the milestones we have posted so far:
The new corporation was established under the Water Act (1989) and superseded the Rural Water Commission.
A year after its formation, the ownership and operational responsibilities of 17 major storages (13 state owned and four owned by the Murray Darling Basin Commission) were transferred to GMW.
GMW now manages 23 major storages. Uniquely, GMW carries out most of its dam inspections internally.
These are supplemented by comprehensive five-yearly inspections carried out by specialist consultants.
Having our own team of skilled dam engineers who can respond to issues quickly helps us ensure the integrity and safety of our dams.
One of GMW’s first major infrastructure projects involved the completion of the new Torrumbarry Weir.
In 1992, the original weir suffered major damage to its foundations and required replacement.
The new weir was completed in 1996. It now diverts about 500,000 ML of water per year and is crucial to water security along the Murray River.
Fishways are crucial to native fish populations. They allow fish to bypass infrastructure such as weirs and regulators, enabling them to travel freely between different stretches of river.
The first fishways GMW constructed – in partnership with other agencies – were completed in 1997.
They were located at all weirs along the lower system of the Broken Creek. In 2006, the Arthur Rylah Institute surveyed Murray Cod populations in the uppermost weir pools and found they had increased 500 per cent since the completion of the fishways.
GMW has continued working with various agencies to construct new fishways, including at Tea Garden Weir, Taylors Creek, Koondrook, and Cohuna.
The safety and integrity of our dams has always been a priority.
In 1998, GMW launched its Dam Improvement Program.
The Dam Improvement Program was a major venture to upgrade the dams GMW inherited to contemporary standards and to maximise community safety.
The $37 million first phase of the work was funded equally by the Victorian Government and GMW.
Some of the early works the program funded included the strengthening of Lake Eppalock’s embankment and upgrading the major outlet structure at Waranga Basin.
In 1999 an innovative drainage solution was used to improve agriculture productivity in the Muckatah Catchment.
The 600 square kilometre catchment was struggling with saline water and a rising water table.
The Muckatah Catchment Strategy addressing these issues was the first of its kind for a rural drainage scheme. It included an extensive network of vegetated floodways and created wetlands to aid with the filtration of sediments and associated nutrients, drastically reducing the impact on downstream waterways, and improving the productivity of the land.
The project - completed by GMW and the Goulburn Broken CMA - was highly successful, and in October 1999, it was awarded an Engineering Excellence Award by the Victorian branch of the Institution of Engineers, Australia.
2000 was a big year for groundwater in our region.
Groundwater is water found beneath the earth's surface in pores and crevices of sand and rocks.
In 2000, metering of groundwater pumps was completed for the Campaspe Deep Lead, Katunga Groundwater Supply Protection Area, and the Nagambie Groundwater Management Are. Considerable progress was also made metering other management areas.
Groundwater Management Plans were also developed for the Campaspe Deep Lead, Katunga and Spring Hill Groundwater Supply Protection Areas.
These plans help ensure water security and other water values are recognised. They define the environmental water requirements and outline how groundwater license holders can maximise the use of their entitlements.
More information on how GMW manages groundwater can be found on the GMW website: How is groundwater managed? - Goulburn Murray Water (www.g-mwater.com.au/groundwater)
In 2001, we trialled Total Channel Control (TCC) for the first time.
TCC refers to automatically controlled channels.
It is a system of automated structures such as flume gates and meters that measure and control flows from the water source to customers properties in real-time.
The pilot was an unbridled success.
TCC is now rolled out across most of the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District.
It is crucial to the sustainability of irrigation in the region, not only removing the risk of excess water being delivered but helping GMW identify where there are leaks or problems with flowrates within its system.
In 2002 a $12.9 million project to upgrade the safety of Yarrawonga Weir was completed.
Yarrawonga Weir was completed in 1939 and is located on the Murray River, about 230km downstream from Lake Hume
By the turn of the millennium, it needed an upgrade.
The works on the weir included strengthening the embankment’s foundations and installing ground anchors, improving the safety and longevity of the weir.
GMW manages Yarrawonga Weir on behalf of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
In 2003, both the Normanville and Woorinen pipeline projects were completed.
The two projects were crucial to improving water security in the western part of our region.
Together, the pipelines created more than 5000 ML of annual water savings. This was particularly timely with their completion coming during the Millennium Drought.
The Normanville pipeline stretches 295km and supplies water to properties around Boort, Kerang, and Quambatook.
The Woorinen pipeline stretches 504km and helps deliver water from the Murray River to about 200 farm properties.
In partnership with customers, GMW began the first irrigation network reconfiguration program to help save water and create efficiencies.
The program aimed to rationalise underutilised infrastructure.
By 2008, GMW had decommissioned more than 80km of channel, over 400 on-farm meter outlets, and various other regulators, culverts, and bridges.
Reconfiguration helped start the modernisation of GMW’s delivery network - during this early program one electric meter outlet was installed for every 3.7 decommissioned Dethridge meters.
In 2005, the $52.5 million Eildon Dam Improvement Project was completed.
The project included strengthening the spillway and reconstructing the upper 10 metres of the embankment, which was then raised a further 5.5 metres to ensure the safety of the dam in extreme floods.
The project was delivered more than $4.5 million under budget and more than two months ahead of schedule.
It received a High Commendation at the 2005 Victorian Engineering Excellence Awards.
The Pyramid Creek Salt Interception Scheme was opened in March 2006.
The scheme diverted 22,000 tonnes of salt from the Murray each year.
It was first of its kind to incorporate commercial harvesting of salt from plastic-lined evaporation ponds.
The scheme was awarded Engineers' Australia National Salinity Prize as well as both the Environment and Sustainability Award and the overall Victorian Engineering Excellence Award in 2007.
To learn more about GMW’s journey over the past 30 years, head to our website: g-mwater.com.au/30-years
In 2007, the Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project (NVIRP) was announced. This would later become known as the Connections Project.
The Victorian Government recognised climate change would have a major impact on the state’s food production and announced $1 billion in funding to modernise and rationalise infrastructure in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District.
The project involved various water-saving measures, such as decommissioning and remediating channels, and modernising irrigation infrastructure.
The project would end up exceeding its target and achieving 433 GL of water savings per year.
During the 2008 irrigation off-season, GMW lowered Lake Mulwala to treat aquatic weeds.
This was the first time GMW had tried this method, with the rationale being that exposing the weeds to the cold winter weather would help kill them off.
Aquatic weed experts were commissioned to assess the effectiveness of the drawdown.
The method proved highly successful and has been used several times since to manage aquatic weeds in the storage.
In December 2009, GMW’s FutureFlow Alliance project was completed.
The alliance saw GMW partner with various infrastructure businesses to undertake significant irrigation modernisation works in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District.
The $290 million project involved the installation of 1680 flume gates, 3740 meters and 27km of pipeline, as well as the removal of hundreds of unused assets.
The project was awarded the 2009 Infrastructure Project Innovation Award by the Australian Water Association. The following year it would win the Award for Project Innovation from the International Water Association.
In June 2010, GMW completed a major safety upgrade of William Hovell Dam.
The project aimed to improve the structural integrity of the dam, including managing safety risks associated with flood overtopping.
The $6 million works involved the main embankment being re-constructed and raised an extra two metres, the secondary embankment also being raised two metres, the spillway being strengthened, and the spillway walls being raised.
In November 2011, the Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project (NVIRP) was integrated into GMW as the GMW Connections Project.
This coincided with the Commonwealth Government agreeing to jointly fund Stage 2 of the project, contributing $953 million in addition to the $106 million from the Victoria Government.
Through various water-saving measures – such as decommissioning and remediating channels, and modernising irrigation infrastructure – the project would eventually create 433GL of annual water savings.
The 145km pipeline stretches from the Waranga Western Channel near Bears Lagoon through to Bridgewater.
Its completion provided a reliable water supply for 105 landowners and 65 rural houses, covering an area the size of 37,000 hectares.
The pipeline’s construction cost $16.4 million, with the project being completed on time and under budget.
The 2012/13 irrigation season was the busiest in over a decade, with more than 1.75 million megalitres of water delivered to customers.
While this figure was eclipsed in future years, deliveries had been significantly lower during the Millennium Drought. The three irrigation seasons from 08/09 to 10/11 combined did not see as much water delivered as in 12/13.
GMW being able to manage more than 140,000 orders without exceeding channel capacity or entering a rationing cycle helped provide confidence that the delivery system could perform reliably under high demand.
2014 saw the completion of the Hattah Lakes Environmental Infrastructure Project.
The 10-year project sought to restore the drought-ravaged site to its previous state – supporting various rare and threatened species of flora and fauna in the process.
To create a more natural flooding regime for the lakes, the project included the construction of a permanent pump station, four regulators and three environmental levees.
GMW implemented the project as the construction agency for the MDBA.
It was awarded the prestigious National Engineering Australia Environmental Engineering Excellence Award.
GMW’s 2015 Winter Works program included one particularly innovative project in the form of the maintenance works on Mildura Weir and Lock 11.
To complete the works, GMW built a moveable steel cofferdam.
Cofferdams are structures used to create dry spaces so works can be carried out below the waterline. They are rarely transportable, but GMW constructed the custom-built cofferdam so it could be wheeled across the concrete trestle-way that holds Mildura Weir.
The project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
In May 2016, a major safety upgrade strengthening the main embankment at Tullaroop Reservoir was completed.
The project was the first major project GMW utilised machine guidance technology on.
Machine guidance involves construction equipment, such as excavators, being equipped with GPS technology programmed with the project’s design. Construction crews can then use the GPS screen installed in the vehicle to see exactly where they need to add or remove soil, eliminating the need for traditional surveying equipment.
GMW has since used this technology for various other projects.
In 2017, Goulburn Weir was awarded international heritage stature from the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage.
The weir was completed in 1891 and is Australia’s oldest major irrigation structure.
More than 130 years later, the weir remains a crucial piece of GMW’s delivery infrastructure.
Despite the weir undergoing various upgrades over the years, much consideration has been given to preserving some of its historical aspects, including two of the original iron gates along with the adjacent turbine house.
A project coming in under budget is always good news, but one coming in under a third of its estimated cost is excellent news.
The upgrade of Campaspe and Bull Siphons was initially forecast as costing $12 million but ended up costing less than $4 million.
Campaspe Siphon was initially deemed to need replacement; however, it was determined that relining it would extend its lifespan to a similar degree.
Bull Siphon did need to be replaced, with machine guidance technology used to aid the installation of the new siphon.
The innovative and tailored approach ensured the works were completed within one Winter Works program rather than two.
In July 2019, GMW completed works replacing the Stuart Murray Canal Offtake radial gates.
The gates had been in operation for more than 50 years but had gradually rusted and degraded.
Due to the unique dimensions, the new gates had to be built from scratch.
They were computer-designed to replicate the dimensions of the old gates but also included a modern protective coating to ensure they could last even longer than the originals.
The project was completed on time and under budget
In 2020, GMW customers received on average a 10 per cent drop in their fees.
In the years preceding the announcement, GMW had leveraged various efficiencies to reduce its annual expenditure requirements by $64 million.
In the years since, GMW’s average bills have changed either in line with or below CPI.
GMW’s new Price Submission for 2024-28 includes a further one per cent reduction to average customer bills before CPI.
In August 2021, the Mitiamo Pipeline Project was completed, providing reliable water supply to landowners across 58,000 hectares north of Bendigo.
The construction of the 300km pipeline cost approximately $29 million, with contributions from the state and federal governments as well as GMW.
The pipeline replaced an old channel that previously serviced the properties in the region and created approximately 1000ML of savings per year.
In 2022, the Irrigators’ Share Distribution Project concluded.
The project saw more than 13,000 customers receive a portion of water recovered from the Connections Project as water shares or financial benefits.
The total worth of these benefits was approximately $300 million.
An enormous amount of work was undertaken to deliver this project, including confirming the details of more than 13,000 customers.
In October 2023, the Water Efficiency Project achieved its water savings target of 15.9GL per year.
The project was funded by the federal government to continue the success of the Connections Project by creating further savings.
This was achieved by improving water efficiency and irrigation standards for over 1000 customers across the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District.
The project would end up surpassing its target, achieving approximately 18GL of savings per year.
In June, the Essential Services Commission approved our 2024-28 Price Submission.
The 2020-24 Price Submission saw customer bills drop by an average of 10 per cent.
Despite various challenges during those four years, including the pandemic and multiple floods, GMW was able to provide customers with stable prices in its 2024-28 Price Submission, with the average fee increasing by less than one per cent over the next four years.
It was developed following an extensive engagement program and is representative of our ongoing commitment to our customers and our region.
Taking the next step together
We are continuing to put customers at the forefront of our decision-making process.
We have a dedicated website for customers to provide their feedback on a range of projects. The website is frequently updated with new and ongoing projects from across the business.
To provide your feedback on topics ranging from recreational use to future service strategies head to our Your Say @ GMW website.