Two new videos are now available to help local farmers best manage their most important agricultural asset – water.
The additional videos, dealing with longer-term water availability issues and regional trends, bring the series to eight separate videos all dealing with different aspects of modern water management.
The series, delivered in plain English and directly relevant to water users, are an initiative of Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW), the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Murray Dairy. The online resource is also free for farmers to view and review from their computer, tablet or phone.
The first six videos, narrated by Toolamba dairy farmer Rick Cross, deal with the fundamentals of understanding water shares, allocation, carryover and the different rules that govern water trade. These include an instructional video on using the online Carryover Calculator tool.
“The latest two videos are less ‘hands on’ but just as relevant for growers in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin,” GMW Acting General Manager Water Delivery Mark Bailey said.
“These videos are more ‘big-picture’ in nature and deal with trends impacting on the demand for water and its price, like the warming and drying trend of our climate.”
The videos also explain how demand for water is increasing and how its ownership is changing, along with the physical constraints of meeting delivery demand for new plantings downstream of the Barmah Choke and how shortfall risks are being managed.
“The Victorian Water Minister’s increased scrutiny and review of the licence process for any proposed new water extraction below the Barmah Choke show the relevance of this particular water management issue,” Dr Bailey said.
Murray Dairy Chief Executive Officer Jenny Wilson said farmers recognise that a good working knowledge of water management is increasingly important to get the most effective and efficient use of their entitlement from day to day and season to season.
“The latest two videos provide irrigators with an awareness of industry and climate trends, and how policy affects water management. Together, all eight videos help irrigators best plan their own farming practices and help with their business decisions.”
Dr Bailey said the combined expertise of GMW, DELWP and Murray Dairy, along with customer feedback, will be used to produce future videos as needed.
The video series can be accessed on the website pages of GMW and Murray Dairy.