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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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Read more about The Gwydir Valley »

Latest DAM Capacity

14.7%

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

 
Metering |

Here is our first reminder regarding the first deadline for the NSW Non-urban water metering reform for larger than 500mm surface water pump installation is quickly arriving, with all works finalised by 1 December 2020.

It is important that everyone assess using the NSW Government's  Metering Tool whether you are required to have your surface water metering work checked and validated or a replacement meter installed with telemetry by this date.   All water users must assess their obligations and MAKE DUE EFFORT to meet these obligations in the required timeframe.

News |

NSW DPIEW announced a 1.7% allocation to General Security and environmental water holders for the end of July 2020.  This brings total available water to General Security water users to 22,000ML with environmental water holders having 34,000 ML, not including high security water.  Copeton Dam is holding 14.7% capacity with essential supplies secured for two-years.

This means now every 1% that Copeton Dam increases by can equate to an estimated 1.89% allocation for General Security and environmental water holders.

Events |

The NSW Government has launched the Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy 2020 for the northern Murray–Darling Basin - Wednesday, 19 August 2020, 10:30am - 12:30pm.

The policy applies to landholders in the northern Murray–Darling Basin who will receive a floodplain harvesting water-access license under the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Policy (2018) in 2021 and will allow water harvested from northern Basin floodplains to be accurately and reliably measured for the first time.

The NSW Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy will be rolled out in stages and water users will be required to comply with the floodplain harvesting measurement rules by July 2021 or July 2022, depending on their onsite storage capacity.

News |

The NSW Government released the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy 2020. This announcement provides one of the missing pieces to understand how NSW plan to manage this access under a licencing regime, which is due for implementation by 1 July next year in the Gwydir Valley. We e have been calling on the policy for some time, so that water users have due time to meet their obligations.
“The policy is an ambitious program but an important step forward in water management that our local industry has been committed for a long time to achieve.”
Photo: Storage device already installed on an empty storage, waiting for the drought to break.

Events |

Follow the link to the recent GRDC Irrigation update with input from Nick Gillingham from Keytah and Lou Gall from GVIA. There was also a great presentation from Matthew Harrison on WaterCan Profit. Thank you to GRDC and ICAN for the opportunity to participate. 

News |

Smarter Irrigation for Profit Phase II is a partnership between the irrigation industry, research organisations and farmer groups, the objective of which is to improve the profit of over 4,000 cotton, dairy, rice, grains and sugar irrigators. There are 14 sub projects including: New irrigation technologies such as new sensors, advanced analytics to improve irrigation scheduling and strategies to reduce water storage evaporation. Cost effective, practical automated irrigation systems and a network of 36 farmer led optimised irrigation sites such as Keytah here in the Gwydir. We have just launched our new web page for of videos and project information. .  

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Making Every Drop Count

Securing a future for the Gwydir Valley through Irrigated Agriculture.

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