“I’m also happy to see that much of eastern Australia is likely to see above average rainfall for October to December according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest long-range forecast.”
Despite these positive signs we know that a number of areas across the state remain particularly dry.
We’re keeping a close eye on these areas as the new irrigation season progresses.
Our teams are already planning and thinking about how we will respond to continued dry conditions and what that will mean for our customers and partner agencies.
As we look ahead and assess what the weather conditions mean, it’s also important to look back at some of our recent achievements. That includes our 2025 Winter Works maintenance program, which was a great showcase of how focused we are on innovation and maintenance cost savings.
Those savings won’t just benefit the work we do — they will directly benefit our customers in a number of ways.
One project that highlights this is the replacement of the Western Waranga Channel Offtake near Fernihurst, which was completed during the winter works. The new regulator combines two different types of gates and is expected to save us 25 per cent on maintenance costs over 30 years compared to a comparable structure with four flume gates.
Our continued use of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) enabled drones, including during winter works, is also providing significant cost savings and helping our teams deliver crucial works.
Our staff are also continuing to install telemetry devices and metres across the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District to improve water-use data collection.
These upgrades will support more efficient water delivery, resource planning and customer service across the region.
If you want to talk to us in-person about these developments, we’ll have a Goulburn-Murray Water team at the Elmore Field Days event from October 7 to 9 to answer all your questions. Our team will also be on hand to talk about other topics, including any questions you have about your account and managing your water allocation through our online and telephone water ordering system, WaterLINE.
Charmaine Quick
G-MW managing director
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