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Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association

The Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association (GVIA) represents in excess of 400 water entitlement holders in the Gwydir Valley.

Our water entitlement holders are some of the most progressive in the world, actively engaged in, and innovating irrigated agriculture. From broadacre crops such as cotton to tree crops such as pecans, oranges and olives, our industry is diverse and productive. We are all acutely aware that reliability of water in the valley is low, and thus strive to Make Every Drop Count for the producer, the community and the environment.

Our vision is for the local irrigation industry, the environment and the Gwydir Valley community to have a secure, vibrant future, with the GVIA recognised as an industry leader.

The Gwydir Valley, centred around the town of Moree in north west NSW is an extremely productive agricultural region. Agriculture employs 20-30% of the population and contributes an estimate 7.8% of NSW’s total agricultural production. Irrigated agriculture is particularly important, contributing significantly to the social and economic wellbeing of the region.

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Water Allocations

The Gwydir River System

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Olives

The irrigated olive industry was initiated in the Gwydir Valley over 25 years ago. Olives are a vertically integrated industry with the nationally recognised Gwydir Grove Olives the largest local producer and processor. In recent years the number of olive trees has declined as some producers have switched from olives into pecans.

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Oranges

Oranges are a new irrigation industry in the Gwydir Valley, with the majority of the trees planted since 2005. It is currently expanding with an expected area of 350Ha to be under production by 2020. The citrus industry in the Gwydir Valley is part of the locally owned and vertically integrated Grove Juice business.

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Pecans

The pecan industry is an important irrigation industry for the Gwydir Valley. Trawalla, owned and operated by Stahmann Farms is the largest in the region producing approximately 90% of Australia’s pecans. Australia is the fourth largest global producer of pecans. Stahmann Farms operate the country's only commercial pecan shelling, value-adding and packing plant.

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Broadacre Cropping

The Gwydir Valley is a diverse broadacre cropping region producing a range of both summer and winter crops. The primary winter crops include; chickpeas, wheat, barley, and more recently canola. While summer plantings include sorghum, faba beans, mung beans, maize and sunflowers. The majority of the broadacre cropping area is dryland.

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Cotton

Cotton is the most significant irrigated crop in the Gwydir Valley with an average of 70,000Ha. It is also an important dryland crop with an average of 79,000Ha annually. The area planted can fluctuate from year to year, being dependant on either available irrigation water and seasonal rainfall.

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Lucerne

Lucerne and Hay are niche crops in the Gwydir Valley covering an estimated 4,500Ha. Lucerne is produced primarily on smaller blocks and is irrigated by bore water entitlements. Hay production includes Lucerne, cereals and pastures.

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Turf

The turf industry has been a part of the irrigation industry of the Gwydir Valley for almost 20 years, but there are only two producers in the valley. It covers a very small area of only 20Ha and is irrigated by bore water entitlements. The primary species produced is Buffalo.

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The Gwydir Wetlands

The Gwydir Wetlands are a system of terminal delta wetlands, located downstream of the Gwydir River approximately 45kms west of Moree in north west NSW. They are recognised for their unique vegetation and bird breeding potential. The wetlands are estimated to consist of approximately 6,829Ha of semi-permanent wetland and 77,949Ha of floodplain wetland.

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Gwydir River - Gravesend Monitoring Gauge

WaterNSW monitor 51 river gauge locations in the Gwydir River and streams(418) using telemetry with data accessible in real time. These sites collect a range of information from flow rate, discharge volume and river heights and assist WaterNSW in their role of water delivery operators whilst providing an indication of water availability.

Water NSW Real Time Data

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Water Management

All water in the Gwydir is managed by water sharing plans established progressively since 2004. Currently 19% of long term Gwydir river flows and 85% of sustainable yield of the Lower Gwydir aquifer are available for irrigation. This has been reduced over time following reforms and water recovery for environment.

WATER SHARING PLANS AND OR WATER AVAILABILITY

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Groundwater Monitoring Network

The are a number of groundwater sources including the Lower Gwydir aquifer used for irrigation and the Great Artesian Basin, including recharge zones. WaterNSW monitor levels via 26 monitoring sites with data accessible in real time.

Groundwater provides reliable irrigation water, quality drinking water for towns and properties and is one of the region’s major tourism attractions.

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Copeton Dam

Copeton Dam is located on the Gwydir River upstream of Bingara on the north-west slopes of NSW. It is one of the largest inland dams in NSW with a capacity of 1,364,000 megalitres of water. It was initiated in 1966 to provide town water supplies and to boost irrigated agricultural production in the Gwydir Valley.

WATER SHARING PLANS AND OR WATER AVAILABILITY

Olives

Oranges

Pecans

Broadacre
Cropping

Cotton

Lucerne

Turf

Wetlands

River Gauge

Water
management

Groundwater
Monitoring
Network

Dam

Latest News and Events

 
News |

Water users, their communities, and environments right around the Murray-Darling Basin had their calls to the NSW Government for better management of water, answered as the NSW Government made regulations to enable the management, measurement, and accounting of the final source of water in NSW which is taken off the floodplains.

Zara Lowien said “These three regulations outline the mechanics to enable the calculation, issuing and enforcement of limits in our local water plans through mandatory metering of floodplain take[1], which has not existed previously” she said

“They mean NSW Government can now manage all forms of water take, right across NSW consistently” she said.

[1] Refer to Fast Facts about Floodplain Harvesting for a description of this form of water take.

News |

One week after saying two-thirds of water users were not making effort with metering reforms the Natural Access Resource Regulator has changed their mind.

The Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association stand firm saying the regulator was out of line in their approach to the media, using untested data from inadequate systems which have been proven wrong with new field data released today.  Mrs Zara Lowien from Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association said “this new information confirms how important on-site information and ensuring boots on the ground are used in compliance just not desk-top studies.”

Events |

The Gwydir Valley Floodplain Management Plan is due for it's five-year review as per the plan requirements.  The review is to determine whether its provisions remain adequate and appropriate for ensuring the effective implementation of the water management principles.  The public submission period provides opportunities for water users, stakeholders and other interested parties to inform the review of these plans. Comment is specifically being sought on:

  1. Is the floodplain management plan(s) adequate and appropriate for ensuring the effective implementation of the water management principles?
  2. Are there issues with the plan(s) that were identified since commencement and impact on effectiveness of implementation?
  3. Are there potential amendments to the plan(s) that should be considered?


Submissions are due Tuesday, 18 May 2021.

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Making Every Drop Count

Securing a future for the Gwydir Valley through Irrigated Agriculture.

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