With the 2022-23 Irrigation Season fast approaching, Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) is encouraging irrigators to make their preparations early.
GMW has enjoyed a fruitful off-season, completing various capital and maintenance works and treating more than 230 kilometres of channel for weeds.
Channels are now being refilled so water can start being delivered to customers when the Irrigation Season begins on 15 August.
GMW Water Delivery Services general manager Warren Blyth said it is important customers know what they are entitled to before they order.
“It’s crucial you understand what your licenses and water entitlements are so when it comes to ordering you know what you’re legally allowed to,” he said.
“GMW has a zero-tolerance approach to water theft. Customers must avoid ordering over their entitlements.”
GMW customers will be able to place their first orders on 12 August; from then, they will be able to place orders up to 10 days in advance.
“I encourage our customers to always put their orders in as early as possible, particularly in times of high demand,” Mr Blyth said.
“You can put an order in 10 days before you actually need water. Having advanced warning helps us plan and meet our customers’ requirements.”
This Irrigation Season, many GMW customers will also have more flexibility in how they order water, due to some upgrades to GMW’s water ordering system – WaterLINE.
“There are some new features on our WaterLINE system, including the ability to change the flow rate and finish time of your orders depending on your order and where you are in the system,” Mr Blyth said
“Behind the scenes, we’ve done some software upgrades that will help us from a planning perspective that will help make for a better customer experience through the Irrigation Season.”
The general outlook for irrigators in the GMW-region is promising, particularly for customers in the state’s North East.
The opening season determination, announced on 1 July, was the highest in the Murray System for 20 years. The Bureau of Meteorology is also predicting a wetter than average August to October.
“We are in a really good window at the moment for water availability and cost per/ML of water,” Mr Blyth said.
“With the volume of water available in our storages, we can be confident in thinking that there are a couple of favourable seasons ahead.”
You can listen to Mr Blyth talk about the new Irrigation Season in the newest episode of the Talking Water with GMW podcast by visiting the GMW website, Pod Bean, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts