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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The NSW Government is calling for expressions of interest to participate in the Australian Government’s next round of National Water Grid
funding applications, likely in June 2025.
The National Water Grid initiative makes funding available for priority water infrastructure projects to improve the reliability and
security of water for Australia’s regional and remote towns, agriculture and primary industry sectors.
Expressions of interest for the next funding round must be submitted no later than 11:00 pm (AEDT) on Thursday 27 February 2025, to allow
sufficient time to prepare proposals and for the Water Group to have further discussions with proponents.
The pricing proposals put to IPART for review by Water NSW and Water Administration Ministerial Corporation (WAMC) in November 2024 are we
believe excessive. The GVIA have made submissions on both proposals and have had a one on one meeting with the IPART WAMC and WaterNSW
regional and rural water price review teams to discuss our concerns. The team at NSWIC have also prepared a submission and held a meeting
with IPART.
Submissions to the IPART Issues paper are available here
Cotton Australia, National Irrigators' Council and Border Rivers Food and Fibre, met with the Hon Ann Leahy, QLD Minister for Local
Government and Water, to discuss the proposed National Water Agreement (NWA) and provide insights into matters of concern.
Cotton Australia General Manager Michael Murray acknowledged that the current public draft of the agreement was much improved on previous
versions released throughout last year, but there were still matters of significant concern and an overriding question as to what benefit
signing the agreement would bring to a state like Queensland.
“Given the states are being asked to sign this agreement, but no money has been put on the table, it is hard to see why a state would
voluntarily limit some of its decision-making capacity and commit significant resources to developing implementation plans, even if the
proposed NWA was a good document that could be supported by stakeholders,” Mr Murray said.
Key areas of concern include:
The inclusion of the statement giving Indigenous Australians a concept of “Free, Prior and Informed Consent,” but no clarity on what this
actually means within the context of water management, despite the glossary section assuring that it does not mean a right of veto.
The retention of the Risk Assignment framework (currently in the National Water Initiative) that allows, under some circumstances, the
recovery of water from entitlement holders without compensation, where industry holds that if water recovery is required, it should be
through market-based mechanisms.
A lack of recognition of the importance of irrigated agriculture in the draft.
Inclusion of a clause encouraging jurisdictions to move towards “Upper Bound” pricing, fortunately something Queensland rejects.
Cotton Australia will continue to work with the National Irrigators' Council, National Farmers Federation, Queensland Farmers Federation,
and NSW Irrigators' Council to provide feedback to the federal and state governments on how this draft agreement can be improved.
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The NSW Government invites NSW stakeholders who have participated in the Australian Government’s consultations on a new national water
agreement to join one of three online workshops to discuss the updated draft agreement.
The NSW-hosted workshops are an opportunity to:
discuss how feedback from NSW stakeholders has been incorporated into the updated draft agreement published by the Australian
Government in December 2024
share any outstanding concerns ahead of the National Water Committee meeting in early February 2025.
To register for a workshop, please select one of the links below:
Please find included the link to the NSWIC December newsletter.
The GVIA work closely with the NSWIC to ensure we are able to advocate as strongly as possible for our members. This partnership will
continue into 2025, and we thank our members for supporting the NSWIC through their levees.
Issues covered in the newsletter include: Water pricing, the National Water Agreement, WSP and MDBA Constraints roadmap.