PIPING THE COLLIE RIVER IRRIGATION DISTRICT Harvey Water, as a supplier of irrigation water to the Collie River Irrigation District (CRID), has over recent months been working alongside Collie Water and CRID farmers developing the design parameters to replace the current open channel irrigation scheme with a closed pipe system.
Water is supplied to over 220 farmers who irrigated just less than 3,000 hectares of land during the irrigation season, which generally runs from September until May. For this group of irrigators, the bulk of their water comes from Wellington
The CRID is the southernmost of three irrigation districts managed by Harvey Water, with Harvey and Waroona districts to the north. The CRID is the last remaining area to be piped. The aim is to convert clay and concrete lined channels in the CRID to a buried network of high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes. The CRID comprises over 200km of open channels which commenced construction during the Great Depression. Due to the age of these channels, their condition is deteriorating. With the growing imperative to maximise water use efficiency combined with climate impacts, piping is the best solution to system losses through leakage, seepage and evaporation.
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The Overflow - Autumn 2020
Dam, which is to the east in the Wellington National Park. The water is released from Wellington Dam, from where it flows to Burekup Weir which serves as a gravity ‘header tank’ for the channel system. Irrigators can ‘order’ their water from the system based on their seasonal allowance. Harvey
