Water for profit - “more crop per drop” Dr. Jerry Knox, from the Institute of Water and Environment at Cranfield University, used a Farmers Club Charitable Trust Scholarship to visit Australia, to learn how farmers were improving their irrigation water efficiency. His findings have implications for irrigated agriculture in England and Wales. Here is a precis of his visit. Coming from a farming background and having worked in irrigation and water resources research for over a decade, I was delighted to receive an award from the Farmers Club Charitable Trust to conduct a three month study tour in Australia. My objective was to understand how their agricultural sector was rising to the challenge of increasing irrigation efficiency, or “more crop per drop”. The plan was to find out about the initiatives being implemented, and consider how specific aspects might be replicated, to improve the efficiency of agricultural water management in England. With additional financial support from the Jack Wright Memorial Trust and Douglas Bomford Trust, I set off to Sydney, then headed inland 500 miles to the small town of Griffith, in the Murrumbidgee catchment. This is part of the Murray Darling Basin, a region where water allocations for agriculture are under severe scrutiny, with attention focussed on reducing abstractions and restoring environmental flows. The Murrumbidgee is important for another reason, UNESCO have identified it as the world’s first “reference catchment”, intended to provide a leading example of how water resources can best be managed and allocated. Surely there were lessons to be learnt. Considering the sheer size of the country, geographically this was also an ideal location, with nearly 70% of all Australia’s irrigated production located within a short drive from Griffith. It is also where CSIRO Land and Water have their headquarters and where I was to be based for the majority of my stay. From here I would visit local farms, meet extension workers, irrigation advisors, university departments, government authorities and other agencies involved in irrigation. However, before embarking on a review of water efficiency in Australia, let us first consider our own context, particularly the external drivers and pressures facing UK farmers that are dependent on water for irrigation. In the UK Nationally, agricultural irrigation constitutes less than 2% of all abstractions, but it is concentrated in the eastern and southern counties in the summer months, in the driest catchments and in the driest years when water supplies are lowest. The key crops are potatoes, field scale vegetables (including salads) and soft fruit. In Eastern England on a peak summer’s day, more water is abstracted for irrigation than by all the water companies combined. This timing of demand and the fact that irrigation is predominantly consumptive (crop transpiration is a net loss to a catchment) causes much consternation in water resource planning. In contrast, domestic use accounts for 70% of all abstractions, but is predominantly non-consumptive, so most (typically 95%) is discharged back into the environment, via sewage treatment, and then available for re-abstraction. Irrigation demand has been rising steadily, driven by supermarket requirements for high quality, consistent supplies of produce. But inadequate regulation had resulted in too much water being overlicensed. This has prevented optimal allocation of water, constraining those desperate to expand their farming businesses. For example, even in a very dry year such as 2003, only 40% of the total volume licensed for irrigation was abstracted; the rest locked up in so-called “sleeper” licenses. Not surprisingly, there was widespread endorsement within the farming community that the abstraction licensing regime needed updating. At the same time, the government was demanding greater levels of environmental protection. Water conservation and efficiency were high on the agenda. After years of consultation, the new Water Act came into force in 2003. This was the most significant piece of new water regulation in 40 years. Amongst new powers given to the regulator, the Environment Agency, was the requirement to control abstractions through time-limiting for all new licenses, when previously most licenses were issued in perpetuity, and the requirement for abstractors to demonstrate efficient use of water before licence renewal. The message was clear; irrigation abstraction licenses were no longer sacrosanct.
Ironically, in Australia, although the climate under which agriculture operates couldn’t be more different, many similar water issues were being played out. To minimize the impact, the agricultural and horticultural industries were developing strategies to respond to changing water availability. In Australia Some 75% of Australia’s water abstraction is for irrigation, primarily for rice, cotton, pastures, vegetables, fruit and vineyards. Irrigation developments have occurred along the Murray river and its tributaries, with Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia all competing for the same resource. In the Murrumbidgee, 25% of all water from the Murray is used to irrigate 560,000 ha, underpinning 16% of Australia’s total agricultural production. As in the UK, water demand is growing at an alarming rate. Vineyards have become a major player in the water market. Between 1983 and 1997 there was a 76% increase in irrigation water use. As a consequence, a “Cap” on abstraction was set in 1997 to limit further extraction and to restore environmental flows in the basin. With the Cap in place, new agricultural developments were allowed provided water was obtained by either improving water efficiency or by purchasing water (trading). Despite local opposition, the Cap has been instrumental in raising awareness of the value of water for irrigation and forcing the agricultural sector to critically review and improve its water use. Water efficiency The Australian agricultural sector is targeting improvements in irrigation through a range of measures working at state, catchment and farm levels and within specific crop sectors. In Queensland, four commodity sectors (sugarcane, cotton, dairying and horticulture) in partnership with the government have launched the Rural Water Use Efficiency Initiative. This aims to improve water efficiency, competitiveness, profitability and environmental sustainability within each sector. It has implemented adoption programmes in water auditing and benchmarking (comparing water use and productivity between growers) and offered financial incentives to improve irrigation infrastructure. I visited Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers (QFVG), one of the partners to find out about their Water for Profit Programme (WfP). They help growers to evaluate irrigation performance and to identify improvements within a best management practice framework. It has developed a collection of electronic resources, including grower evaluation programmes, technical fact-sheets and spreadsheet calculators. It has also delivered a significant amount of in-field training. As a result, nearly half of the state’s fruit and vegetable growers have attended one or more WfP training/workshop activities. It is a excellent example of how information has been synthesised and presented in a variety of media formats to farmers, in conjunction with hands-on training. The return on investment has been impressive; more than AUD$150 million in water efficiency gains have been achieved against costs of AUD$7 million. A second phase is focusing on the off-farm environmental impacts of irrigation. Unfortunately in the UK, industry initiatives have been piecemeal and reactive, lacking a strategic approach to dealing with the long-term issue of securing water for agriculture and horticulture. Farmers in water stressed catchments have therefore been isolated and vulnerable when trying to secure water for irrigation. In NSW, a slightly different venture termed “Waterwise on the Farm” was underway. This was a government run initiative working closely with local farmers. Field days, farm walks, information sessions, technical workshops and media campaigns were being organised to share best irrigation management practices and irrigation success stories. Demonstration farms, not dissimilar to the Leaf concept, were being used to promote best practice in irrigation. Of course many of these ideas have been used in the UK for many years, but usually on a more ad hoc basis. But here, there was a real focus; all farmers in the catchment were aware of the initiative and were starting to collaborate with each other and with external organisations. The initiative was also encouraging farmers to develop their own irrigation and drainage management plans. These common format reports addressed irrigation, water resource and environmental issues, and were designed to enable managers to objectively assess their irrigation enterprise and identify ways to improve efficiency. This approach has relevance to UK farmers in preparing reports to support abstraction licence renewal.
The way forward The Australian farming sector is certainly making a concerted effort in raising irrigation water efficiency. It seems to have focused on key areas; optimising infrastructure, using water pricing to move water to the highest value uses, implementing monitoring and metering to audit levels of water use and setting targets for efficiency through industry benchmarking. Collectively, these are starting to have a major impact. Farmers are also collaborating on a large scale to resolve local water resource problems. This is happening in selected catchments in the UK, through the formation of abstractors groups, and must surely be the way forward. Water auditing and benchmarking are also likely to become buzzwords that farmers will need to become more familiar with. Threats and opportunities The outlook for irrigated agriculture in the UK appears mixed. Summer water is already becoming more expensive and less reliable. The government is seeking ever higher levels of environmental protection, and climate change threatens to exacerbate the problem, with predicted increases in water demand and reductions in water availability. These all seem to be threats, but there are opportunities. Water will become a more valued asset, and those that use it most efficiently will benefit significantly, in financial terms. Farmers also need to become more innovative in their water resource management; trading water locally, investing in water conservation and water harvesting, improving levels of monitoring and working together. This is all happening in Australia, catalysed by recurrent droughts and regulatory change. Clearly now is the time for farmers in the UK to seize these opportunities; farmers must take the lead and not be led in discussions on water allocation for agriculture. Bursary benefits The bursary has opened many doors. From an individual perspective it provided a rare opportunity to broaden my international expertise in irrigation and further my academic understanding of key issues, particularly water efficiency. It also provided a unique opportunity to meet many new individuals engaged in similar work, and has led to collaboration at many levels. The study has informed many current activities in the UK involving stakeholders such as the NFU, the Environment Agency and UK Irrigation Association through various irrigation related projects, training initiatives, technical meetings, workshops and presentations as well as contributing to postgraduate water management teaching at Cranfield University. Finally, the bursary has provided an excellent opportunity for networking, fostering links with organisations in Australia. Collaborations, including reciprocal visits from CSIRO staff, joint research proposals and PhD visits have all resulted. Many other opportunities will undoubtedly follow, so long as we don’t mention the rugby world cup or the Ashes!
About the author: Jerry is a Principal Research Fellow in Irrigation and Water Resources at the Institute of Water and Environment, Cranfield University at Silsoe.