Water Talk August 2014

ountry News Co

Water Talk Reaching Australia ’s richest agricultural region

E 12-PAUG RE FEuAguTst 2014 A

A million dollar job no-one will see — page 2

Fears raised over new Water Act — page 8 | Water prices open high — page 6 | Fast flow at Yalca — page 3

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PAGE 2—‘Water Talk’, August, 2014

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winch crucial to the operation of Dartmouth Dam has been replaced.

The new drive system was funded by the MurrayDarling Basin Authority and replaces the original winch, which was installed in 1978.

Goulburn-Murray Water recently finished the $960 000 project to replace the low level outlet winch drive system.

G-MW dams manager Martina Cusack said the commissioning was completed in eight days and was the result of hundreds

of hours of work during the past two years. ‘‘The winch raises and lowers the 25 tonne, 6 m diameter low level bulkhead located in the concrete tower at Dartmouth Dam,’’ Ms Cusack said. ‘‘The top of the 40 m high tower is 80 m below the full supply level of the dam so it’s rarely visible.’’

The winch drive system was designed and built in Victoria by Crib Point Engineering, using components from Australia, Europe and Asia.

Ms Cusack said Peter Liepkalns and the

Dartmouth operations team — Jim Wheelhouse, Rod Mauger, Trevor Lange, John Fitzpatrick and Raff Gangi — dedicated many hours to the project and should be congratulated on their work. ‘‘The bulkhead is normally stored at the top of the tower, but is lowered to close off the outlet tunnel that is cut through rock underneath the dam to enable inspections and maintenance works to other outlet components,’’ she said. ‘‘The winch uses about 1.6 km of steel wire cable to connect to the bulkhead.’’

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The Goulburn-Murray Water dam safety officer recently clocked up 35 years at the water corporation and says he still enjoys coming to work. ‘‘I like going to bed at night knowing people in the valleys below our dams can sleep well,’’ Mr Jones said.

As the dam safety officer, Mr Jones makes a valuable contribution to ensure the dam structures are safe.

He does this by monitoring and testing pressure, movement, settlement, seepage and much more. ‘‘My job is a challenge every day, but that challenge is also very rewarding,’’ he said. ‘‘Data collected from the numerous instrumentation installations allows G-MW as dam owners to evaluate a dam’s stability and safety. ‘‘I regularly visit all 16 of G-MW’s major dam structures to do assessments, rebuilds, refits and regular maintenance.’’

Kevin Jones is one of Goulburn-Murray Water’s staff who recently received long service awards. Mr Jones has clocked up 35 years with G-MW. Mr Jones grew up in Wodonga and now lives in Sandy Creek.

When he first started work at G-MW he was based at Dartmouth, but has worked from the Lake Hume site since 1995.

G-MW recently hosted a long service award lunch where 43 people were recognised — 10 for 20, 25, 30 and 35 years’ service and one for 40, 45 and 50 years’ service.

G-MW managing director

Gavin Hanlon said the long service awards were just a small way of saying thank you to employees for their contributions. ‘‘This group of people have shown a huge amount of dedication and there is no doubt Goulburn-Murray Water is a better organisation because of them,’’ Mr Hanlon said. ‘‘I am very proud of our long serving staff and appreciate all the hard work they do.’’

‘Water Talk’, August, 2014—PAGE 3

water talk

Ray Thornton expects to water his faba beans in the next fortnight.

Many positives from upgrade

rop farmer Ray C Thornton sees nothing but positives from two

irrigation upgrades to his 240 ha Yalca property, and faster watering is not even at the top of his list.

He has grown corn since the 1980s and this year also has faba beans and canola in the mix.

He said the new fast-flow border check irrigation had an immediate impact on the corn yield.

While he still places his four-day order with Goulburn-Murray Water for a delivery to the backbone channel, the water now goes on and off rapidly, preventing waterlogging in the clay-loam soil before it returns to a large recycle dam for its next use. ‘‘In the past, there would still be surface water (on the crop),’’ Mr Thornton said. ‘‘With fast flow I save water, but the crop health and production increase can’t be underestimated, it’s just logical.’’

In mid-2012, Mr Thornton signed a contract with (now defunct) Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project and a second with Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority.

Mr Thornton said it had been a hectic couple of years since then; as well as acting as project manager, Mr Thornton did much of the earth-moving himself, including filling in the 1.2 km G-MW spur channel that the projects made redundant and bedding in the 5 km of pipes to his liking before filling in the trenches. ‘‘It went smoothly, but there was a lot to do.’’

Automation on the project was by Rubicon Water, pipes and risers by Mick Hogan Excavations, pumps from W & P Pumps at Kyabram and electric motors were supplied by BCS Motion Technology, Shepparton.

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A large recycle dam ensures every drop of water that comes off the irrigated paddocks under the fast-flow system can be used again.

CMA project was funded from the Victorian On-farm State Priority Project through round two of the Farm Water Program.

It involved channel works and upgrades, automation and installation of pipe-andrisers. Half of the water saved was transferred to the government for environmental purposes.

Although the property is close to dairy farms, it has never been used for that purpose ‘‘apart from a house cow’’, Mr Thornton said, rolling his eyes as he

recalled how it had to be milked each morning before school.

Mr Thornton’s greatgrandfather established the farm in 1920 and drove a horse and gig up the road to check sheep on another block.

But Mr Thornton said animals tied people to a property 24-seven.

His great-grandfather would struggle to grasp how Mr Thornton now can control his fast-flow irrigation from his phone, anywhere in the world.

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PAGE 4—‘Water Talk’, August, 2014

water talk

Committees have lots to talk about

By Geoff Adams

M

ore than 100 irrigators who are advisers to Goulburn-Murray Water met in Shepparton last week to discuss water issues and give feedback on issues including the Connections project, pricing, capital works, the weather and the agricultural outlook.

The irrigators form the elected water services committees for G-MW. The annual briefing and discussions included G-MW board members and staff.

G-MW chairman Llew Vale said there were discussions about strategic tariff reform for diverters, which meant some customers would be paying more, and some less.

He said the changes had resulted in reduced overall costs to the diverters.

Although audited annual finance figures were not yet available, Mr Vale said the corporation finished the financial year in a strong position, with a significant debt reduction and expecting to report a regulatory profit.

Mr Vale, who will soon retire from his position, said he had growing confidence the corporation would meet the delivery deadline for the large Connections program, by 2018.

He said the scheme was now in the more complex arena of establishing arrangements with irrigators but was not pushing aside difficult issues. ‘‘There has been process improvements and learning along the way.’’

He said the connections to irrigators would be accomplished in a systematic way.

Irrigators heard a discussion about a proposal to introduce probability forecasts for lowreliability allocations.

Torrumbarry Water Services Committee deputy chair Margot Henty said her group was grappling with issues around the use of natural waterways to deliver their irrigation water. ‘‘We are a large district with a lot of natural carriers delivering water from the Torrumbarry weir,’’ Ms Henty said. ‘‘We’re interested in the

efficiency of delivery through the system and we are looking for the possibility of investment from third parties.’’

She said while G-MW was aiming at a delivery system of 85 per cent efficiency, the Torrumbarry system was delivering about 68 per cent.

Evaporation was responsible for a large part of the losses.

However, investigations had shown alternative infrastructure — which would improve efficiency and have environmental benefits — would be expensive.

A business case for an upgrade of part of the Gunbower lagoons has been sent to the Federal Government with a funding request.

Ms Henty was not confident the bigger infrastructure changes would get approved, but she said there were ways of managing water flows which would offer some efficiency improvements and environmental benefits, with the co-operation of G-MW, irrigators and the catchment management authority.

Mr Vale’s last board meeting will be at the end of August.

Talking water were (from left) G-MW chairman Llew Vale and Torrumbarry Water Services Committee members Ann Hodge and Tim McNeil.

At the water services committees meeting were (from left) Torrumbarry committee deputy chair Margot Henty, Loddon Campaspe committee member Richard Carter, Geoff Coburn from G-MW and Torrumbarry chairman Charlie Gillingham.

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12-PAGE E TUR EAT FEA 2014 June

Lifting dairy farm efficiency through water upgrades

— page 3

Push for Lake Cooper water continues — page 6 Water transfer time slashed — page 9 Seen at the irrigation expo — pages 10 and 11

Have you explored all the options?

Aluminium water pipe > gives the least wheel rutting in the business Up to 25Ml/per day laterals > the largest in the business Pivot corner systems > the largest in the business GPS guided laterals and corner systems > no troublesome wires The all-new Reinke pivoting lateral > the latest in advancements

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Mini pivots > for small-scale dairy use Wrap-around spans > for pivoting around field obstructions Three-wheel flexible towers > to enable to walk over rice banks for duel irrigation.

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June cover

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‘Water Talk’, August, 2014—PAGE 5

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PAGE 6—‘Water Talk’, August, 2014

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High opening prices ater trading in Victoria W and NSW is under way for the 2014-15 season, with

high opening prices in limited trade.

In Victoria water has been trading between $80-$85 Ml, with similar prices seen in NSW. Lex Batters from Ruralco Water reported that buyers and sellers were scarce this early in the season. ‘‘With full allocations expected in Victoria, a wet start to winter and plenty of carryover, buyers are looking for bargains,’’ Mr Batters said. ‘‘Sellers are happy to take a wait-and-see approach, so we expect to see only limited trade for the next few weeks.’’

Ruralco Water predicts allocation prices to remain firm when trading gets under way in earnest in the next few weeks, because sellers are expected to be hard to find.

Low opening allocations in NSW, despite a wet start to winter, will ensure that sellers are scarce early in the season.

Sellers are currently in the market at between $90 and $100 Ml however buyers are not yet at that level, with buy orders at $70-$80 Ml. Victorian markets are behaving in a similar way, with sellers putting high prices on allocation as they wait for the market to find a base, while

A wet start to winter has water buyers hunting for bargains. buyers are offering $75-$80 Ml hoping to pick up allocation early in the season, before possible price rises over summer.

Continuing talk of the potential for an El Nin ˜o event in summer, and reduced carryover in Victoria compared with last year, should see allocation

prices climb during the next few months.

Ruralco Water reported that a lot of forward water had been sold for this season at $100-$110 Ml, suggesting the market expected prices to reach those levels during the peak demand periods later this season.

Entitlement markers continue to move higher as demand continues to rise, and sellers remain scarce in all markets.

Mr Batters said: ‘‘Buyers are now paying $1600 Ml in the Victorian Murray, and over $1550 Ml in the Goulburn, which are the best prices we’ve seen in a number of years.’’

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‘Water Talk’, August, 2014—PAGE 7

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Eildon works finished oulburn-Murray Water has G completed its annual winter outage works at Lake Eildon.

This year’s maintenance was completed in one month and included inspections and maintenance to the cylinder gate and the low level outlet.

The low level outlet is the main outlet from Lake Eildon and flow through this outlet drives the AGL hydro-electric turbines. The cylinder gate provides the ability to stop the flow quickly if necessary.

G-MW dams manager Martina Cusack said a team of five people completed the works. ‘‘This is very important work because between August 15 this year and May 15 next year this system must be 100 per cent operational,’’ Ms Cusack said.

The outage starts with the test closing of the cylinder gate and 10 bulkheads are installed at the base of the tower.

Next the floor decking in the tower is unpinned and lowered to allow access to the cylinder gate 50 m below the operating deck. ‘‘Access is by a works cage suspended from the personnel hoist,’’ Ms Cusack said. ‘‘The cylinder gate weighs 42 tonne and hydraulically travels vertically 5.2 m from its submerged ambush position to fully close. ‘‘Closure happens in about 45

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PAGE 8—‘Water Talk’, August, 2014

water talk

Fears raised about Water Act yabram solicitor and water K litigation expert Edwin Kennon says the Water Bill

2014 now before the Victorian Parliament disadvantages landowners and should be voted down.

I do not believe the Bill should be passed in its present form. There are too many changes that take away the rights of individuals and there is a major problem with the fact that water cases have to be heard by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

I have specialised in water law for the past 15 years and have spent the past three years continuously in VCAT in flooding cases, acting for individuals against water authorities.

Since the 1989 Water Act came into force, the cases under section 16 and 157 have been heard in VCAT. It was thought that VCAT would be a more efficient and less costly means of hearing water cases than the courts, giving the individual easier access to a venue to assert his rights.

However, this has not been the experience of litigants in VCAT. VCAT has not interpreted the relevant sections of the Water Act with legal skill. It is not a court. It has made continuous legal errors.

VCAT is not an expert tribunal.

Mediators who are appointed by VCAT from their members are not familiar with water cases, only building cases. The processes in VCAT are not efficient. Discovery of documents is not as effective as it is in the courts. The hearing of

Opinion witnesses, especially expert witnesses and their cross examination, is not handled as well as it is in the courts. The costs are just as high as they are in the courts and can be ordered against the losing applicant.

The Water Bill 2014 The Water Bill has moved the liability of council from liability for unreasonable interference with a flow of water to liability under the same section that applies to water authorities. A council will now be liable for a flow of water caused by its infrastructure on to private land if the flow was intentional or not reasonable.

Unless the Bill is amended, VCAT will follow its decision in Boroondara about the escape of sewerage onto kindergarten land. The test of liability will be much reduced from what it should be, as it is now with water authorities.

New sections have been created to replace sections 16 (and 20) and 157. These amendments further erode private rights and tilt the balance of fairness away from the individual towards the authority.

VCAT is now required to consider principles deriving from section 83 of the Wrongs Act so that the functions required to be exercised by the authority or council are to be determined ‘‘by reference to the broad range of its activities (and not merely by reference to the matter to that the proceeding relates)’’. This will give further arguments to the

‘

Farmers need to be able to challenge their rates in a court if they are wrongly charged. authority when all that should be investigated is whether the authority or the council could have, in any practical way, haveavoided the damage to land.

A new section 721 has been added in relation to infrastructure of a public statutory body (including an authority) that may interfere with a reasonable flow of water. ‘‘In determining whether the infrastructure should be continued, removed or modified, regard must be had to circumstances therein set out.’’ VCAT has power to order relief by injunction. This section would appear to contradict the free flow principle, that is, that the authority or council is liable when its infrastructure unreasonably interferes with the free flow of surface water in a way that could be practically avoided.

The Water Bill is not intended to come into force until 2016. I believe the passing of this Bill now would be too rushed. This is an opportunity to examine the water legislation of Victoria that will not occur for a long time to come.

It is important to understand the role of the minister in relation to water authorities. Water authorities have tremendous power in their district. They can adversely affect the rights of farmers if they misuse their powers. The minister has a role in this respect.

The water authority, for instance,

’

is not allowed to increase the size of its water districts without approval of the minister. This is because of the power that water authorities have in their districts.

It is important the power of the water authority to charge rates be carefully scrutinised. Under the 1989 Water Act, VCAT has a limited role of reviewing the power of the water authorities to charge rates.

In Victoria, the power of the magistrates’ courts to hear a defence in relation to cases where the authority has exceeded its power to charge rates has not been sufficiently clarified. Farmers need to be able to challenge their rates in a court if they are wrongly charged.

The environment now stores its water in storages once reserved for private water entitlements. The rights of the environment and the rights of private water holders can come into conflict.

There have been cases where the authority has sought to reduce the rights of private water holders to take water from storages in order to give priority to the environment.

These restrictions can reduce the value of water licences to nothing.

I am concerned about the section in the new Water Bill (section 224) that replaces the former section 32A of the Water Act 1989.

I acted for the holders of deep lead groundwater licences at Katunga when the authority brought

in a new management plan under section 32A. The Supreme Court declared the proposed management plan invalid and a new one was introduced, in that the farmers were not only represented in equal numbers with the other members of the committee, but had their own hydro-geologist on the committee.

Under section 29 of the Water Act 1989, the minister must make sure the consultative committee represents all relevant interests, consists of persons who have knowledge or experience in the matters to be covered in the management plan, and at least one half of the membership must consist of persons who are owners or occupiers of land in the area concerned.

Under the proposed section 224 of the Water Bill, the minister must make sure that the committee appointed in connection with the resource management order is comprised of members who have knowledge of, or experience in, the matters to be dealt with and that all relevant interests are fairly represented, but there is no requirement that at least half of the membership must consist of landowners. It will be a question under section 224(3) whether licensees whose rights may be reduced to nothing could be fairly represented on a committee if they comprise less than half the members of the committee. ➤ See www.countrynews.com.au this week for an extended version of Mr Kennon’s opinion.

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‘Water Talk’, August, 2014—PAGE 9

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Set and forget trough system new automated A system that will ensure dairy farmers’

stock troughs never run dry has been developed to give peace of mind about on-farm watering systems.

Mait Industries, based in Melbourne, provides innovative monitoring and irrigation control solutions.

With extensive agronomic and engineering expertise, the practical and technical issues of farming are at the forefront of the design of its systems.

Mait Industries has released what is described as a CR-X Cable Replacement Series Bi-directional switch.

This remote tank fill method allows the CR-X unit to be connected to the pump source with a level switch at the water tank, with another CR-X unit and gravity feed to the stock troughs.

Farmers simply connect

and set a float switch, then sit back and relax knowing the tank and troughs will never run dry.

The wireless bi-directional switch, powered from a nominal 12 V DC power source, has an operating range of up to 6 km line-of-sight. If a particular application needs additional range, it is a straightforward process to add repeaters.

The Mait Industries CR-X units are ideal for remote control of pumps and valves where laying of cable is expensive, not feasible or simply not desired. They are also useful for remote monitoring of switch states, such as for pressure and flow switches. The system can be used for numerous applications, such as pump or machine start.

Each CR-X has two digital inputs and two digital outputs. The outputs can be configured to control two independent 12 V DC relays

or a single 12 V DC latching solenoid.

A standard in-built 3 Ah rechargeable lithium battery pack can be used as the power source, kept charged via a 15 V DC 1A regulated plug pack. If mains power is not available a 12 V solar panel (5 W or 10 W) may be used.

The system can be powered directly from a 12 V DC plug pack if mains power is reliable and battery back-up is not required.

Optional cards are available to allow two latching solenoids to be controlled from the one CR-X unit. ➤ More information about the CR-X Cable Replacement Series Bi-directional switch is available from Mait Industries, phone 1300 739 9820 or email sales@mait.com.au

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PAGE 10—‘Water Talk’, August, 2014

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‘Water Talk’, August, 2014—PAGE 11

water talk

Farmer seeks compensation he plight of a Cohuna T flood victim has been raised in the Victorian

On behalf of the Victorian Government, Campaspe Shire Council has projectmanaged works at Aysons Reserve, south of Rochester. Bollards have been placed along the riverside.

Works completed

ore than $18 million M of flood recovery works have been

completed in Campaspe Shire, bringing to a conclusion the massive clean-up, repair and rebuilding program that resulted from the floods of late 2010 and early 2011.

Campaspe Shire’s flood recovery and emergency management spokesperson Cr Leigh Wilson said the extensive works program stretched across the shire with Rochester — the hardest hit — and parts of Echuca and Torrumbarry receiving the most intensive focus owing to the extensive level of damage in these areas. ‘‘It’s been a long journey with many challenges along the way since the devastating floods of threeand-a-half years ago and it is wonderful to be able to report to our community that works to repair the extensive damage are now completed,’’ Cr Wilson said. ‘‘The works program has involved the rehabilitation and reconstruction of more than 800 km of roads, 50 bridges, 200 culverts, dozens of community buildings and many other assets including footpaths,

Spending summary: ➤ Roads: $10.18 million. ➤ River retaining walls: $2.5 million. ➤ Bridges: $910 000. ➤ Major projects: Rochester community retaining walls, drainage infrastructure, and sporting and recreation facilities. ‘‘While the program to repair damaged infrastructure has been enormous in scale, of even greater significance has been the generosity, deep level of commitment and strong sense of community of the many hundreds of individuals and groups who have worked tirelessly to mend the social fabric of local communities and help families and individuals return their lives to normality. ‘‘While the impacts of the floods will remain etched in our memories, as a community we have grown stronger and more resilient through the ongoing efforts of these wonderful people who have raised funds, helped rebuild community facilities and conducted activities to support those affected by the floods.

hub $1.1 million; Rochester Recreation Reserve $2.2 million; Rochester Caravan Park $1 million, partly council funded; Aysons Reserve $150 000. ‘‘On behalf of council, I thank you all for your valuable and ongoing work in this area,’’ he said. ‘‘I also commend the council staff who have done an outstanding job on many fronts including projectmanaging dozens of infrastructure works in a systematic and thorough manner, working with government to obtain the necessary funding to repair and rebuild assets, initiating and supporting a multitude of community projects and committees, and working closely with individuals in need to ensure they were able to access the necessary resources to assist their recovery. ‘‘While the flood infrastructure works are now complete, the focus now moves to the flood protection and mitigation works with some projects recently funded in this area.’’

Parliament by opposition water spokesman Martin Foley.

Farmer Terry Stirling was hit by the 2011 floods and has been seeking compensation from Goulburn-Murray Water.

Mr Stirling said he was flooded out by a controlled release from Kow Swamp into the Pyramid Creek by Goulburn-Murray Water in January 2011 which resulted in losses assessed at $558 000.

In a letter to Mr Foley and read into the Legislative Assembly transcript, Mr Stirling said he had abandoned his claim following threats from the the water corporation. ‘‘At the last VCAT mediation meeting on 27 May 2014, barristers for Goulburn-Murray Water threatened me with all the costs associated with their defence, being some $1.25 million. This obviously I cannot afford and would cost me my farm and livelihood,’’ the letter

‘

G-MW was not responsible for the flooding that occurred as a result of this event.

’

G-MW spokesperson said. ‘‘The Minister for Water is planning to change the flood mitigation bill to place more responsibility on the landowners for flood levy maintenance and mitigation but will not accept that in my case the responsibility rested with him and Goulburn-Murray Water.’’

The issue was raised by Mr Foley during debate over an amendment to a flood mitigation bill, and he urged the government to reach a negotiated agreement with Mr Stirling.

A spokesperson for the water authority said the corporation’s thoughts

were with those still in recovery from the rare flood event that resulted in record flood waters impacting many areas of northern Victoria in 2011. ‘‘We understand that recovery from natural events such as this can be difficult. G-MW was not responsible for the flooding that occurred as a result of this event. ‘‘We understand and respect the rights of individuals who may seek access to flood compensation outside of any formal flood recovery grant program. In these instances, where individuals do this through legal action, G-MW has a responsibility to its remaining customers to defend these actions firmly and properly to protect its interests,’’ the spokesperson for G-MW said. ‘‘All successful legal action against G-MW ultimately impacts the cost of delivering water to our customers and we are committed to keeping costs to customers as low as possible.’’

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PAGE 12—‘Water Talk’, August, 2014

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