Building a secure future for members, the environment and the Gwydir Valley community through irrigated agriculture

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. Read more about us

Making Every Drop Count

Securing a future for the Gwydir Valley through Irrigated Agriculture.


Water Allocations

GVIA Members

Become part of a united voice advocating for the future of irrigation in the Gwydir Valley.

Water Policy

Championing fair, transparent, and sustainable water policy for the Gwydir Valley.

Community & Industry Initiatives

Partnering for progress across the Gwydir Valley.

The Gwydir Valley

The Gwydir Valley is a highly productive rural region located in North West NSW, characterised by rich alluvial soils.

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 & Events

The August Water Allocation Statement makes no changes to ECA or General security allocations. An account reconciliation reduced the General security balance by 10GL.
The s324 remains in place for access to FPH and Supplementary entitlements, however restrictions are temporarily lifted as there is approximately 264GL in the upper lakes at Menindee. The restriction will come back into force if the upper lakes drop to 250GL. 
There is an average 86% account balance for General Security and a 135% account balance for the environmental allowance. 

The July Water Allocation Statement came out today. No surprises with 0% allocation. There is 449GL in the General Security accounts (88%) and 61GL in the Environmental allowance (135%). High security, Supplementary and FPH licence holders received their maximum 9100%) allocation.
During June approx. 2.1GL of ECA water was delivered. 
In the 2025-26 water year GS began with 69% of entitlement, there were three allocation increments made resulting in total allocation of 67% for the 2025-26 year. There was a useage of approx 39% of entitlement (198GL). Supplementary access licences received 40% of entitlements (72GL).
Good rainfall early in the water year saw Copeton dam storage increase from a starting point of 53% to a leak of 82% with end of year capacity of 60%, 
The full statement is available here for the Gwydir Valley and here for the opening allocations for NSW regulated sources

Water Prices set to soar with over cumulative changes of 33% to 42% over next four years: 
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has approved water bill increases of almost 50 per cent, excluding inflation, across many NSW valleys over the next four years, despite acknowledging that many customers have limited capacity to absorb them.
Water bills in the Gwydir will increase between 7 and 10 per cent plus CPI each year for the next four years. This is a cumulative change of 33 to 42 per cent over the next four years. 

  •         Typical General Security bills will increase from $18,863 to $26,724 a 9.1 per cent annualised increase.
  •         Entitlement prices will incur an annualised increase of 9.9 per cent for General Security and 6.1 per cent for High Security.
  •         While usage prices will see and annualised 8.8 per cent increase.  
  •         Local Water Utilities in the Gwydir will also see increases.
The full media release is included in the link

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