THe GVIA office will be closed from 22nd December 2023  through to 8th January 2024.

For any urgent inquiries, please call the office mobile numbers. 

The Water engagement roundup is a live monthly webinar update about ongoing and upcoming engagements and consultation on important water policy, reforms and programs for NSW. This month we focus on the NSW Groundwater Strategy.


Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Time: 11:00 AM Australian Eastern Standard Time (New South Wales)

Duration: 1 hour

The Australian Government has announced consultation into ideas and ways to finalise the Murray Darling Basin Plan. 

The Gwydir Valley has 5,000 ML of environmental water over the legal requirements for the Basin Plan and the consultation open at the moment presents an opportunity to highlight this and the inequity that exists for the region who has over-recovered water compared with regions that have progress still to make. 

DPE are hosting one-hour, on-on-one (in-person) session to help develop property measurement plans for floodplain harvesting.  

Venue: Moree Services Club, 3 Albert St, Moree

Time: 9:30 am to 5.00 pm 

Dates: Tuesday 27 June to Thursday 29 June 

Available times: 

1. 9:30 am to 10.30 am
2. 11.00 am to 12.00 pm
3. 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm
4. 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm
5. 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm. 

Monday 20th March - Learn about your local river, its cultural heritage and the creatures that call it home.
Join CottonInfo for a FREE, FUN and INFORMATIVE kayak trip at Moree's Tareelaroi Weir. You will hear from aquatic experts, entomologists and ecologists about what animals contribute to natural pest control in your region and what you can do to manage their habitats. 
Presenters: Simone Heimoana (CSIRO entomologist) – Pest Suppressive landscapes, Dr Rhiannon Smith (UNE ecologist) – Valuing biodiversity and how best to revegetate floodplains Dr Susan Fuller (QUT ecologist) – Innovative acoustic monitoring technology David Preston (DPIE) – Environmental flows and river management, Rodney Price (NSWDPI ecologist) – Fish Screening program, Jay Barnett (OzFish unlimited) – River Repair Bus, Kerrie Saunders (Yinarr-ma) – Cultural Heritage and bushtucker

Sundown Pastoral Company would like to invite you to join them for the 2022 Bayer Grower of the Year Field Day at Keytah, Moree on 21st February 2023 from 10am.

 Industry-led panel sessions will explore: 

1. Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

2. Customer expectations along the value chain.

3. The power of Supply Chain Traceability.

4. Adaptive Agriculture and Innovative Solutions for Growers

5. Practical Applications and Field Innovations

Please see your invitation included. A detailed agenda is available here.

Could you please share this information with your network as this will be a fantastic day where all aspects of the cotton supply chain from field to fabric will be explored. .

We hope to see you there! Please RSVP for catering purposes.

Link to RSVP: https://forms.gle/L2FuBvymtxNgmuK16

Event Webpage: https://www.sundownpastoral.com.au/field-day/

Carbon is one of the topics getting attention at present. It is important for our members to understand what it means for them. To  help we are hosting the Gwydir Regional Carbon Forum in partnership with UNE, NSW DPI and the CRDC. We are looking to provide information on Sustainable Soil Management and how this links with a productive cropping system and Carbon. 

• What is soil Carbon: Understanding, monitoring and measuring soil carbon. What levels could be expected as a baseline? What do producers need to know before they make any changes? How can they use existing/historic soil tests?
• Understanding and measuring emissions: What is involved in making this assessment and how should producers go about collecting the information.
• Data management: What data do producers need, where can it be stored, how can this be easily managed over time.
• Tools that can assist producers and agronomist easily manage the Carbon space.

This months resource assessment provided a further 8.6% allocation to general security accounts, with the ECA and environmental water accounts at maximum level.  Irrigation water availability is just below the 600GL maximum account limit.  

The main summer irrigation season is drawing to a close and deliveries to the Gwydir Wetlands are also slowing down, which should see releases at Copeton Dam ease off and the majority of this water carried over for future use. 

Copeton Dam is holding steady at 93% capacity which means there is plenty of water to enjoy at the Holiday Park.  At this level at the end of the irrigation season we anticipate, a few good years of economic activity from the stored water.

NSW DPIEW are providing an update on groundwater levels in the Gwydir Valley on Tuesday, 15th March 2022 - 9:30- 11:30am.  This meeting is a face to face meeting in Moree at the Services Club.

Groundwater levels have generally fluctuated within acceptable levels of decline and recovery. However, in some localities, with concentrated areas of pumping, groundwater levels are not able to fully recover before the following irrigation season starts.  The Department have more information on this and have provided a brief report accessed via the below link.

Please register to attend using the online form - Community meetings on groundwater levels - Lower Gwydir - Moree Tickets, Tue 15/03/2022 at 9:30 am | Eventbrite 

Join us for discussions on the Siphon-less tailwater backup design at Saunders Farming "Thuraggi Overflow" St George on Tuesday 8th March 2022. The field day is the second half of the CSD Cotton Management Field day. 
The irrigation session will start at 10am with an update on the Water productivity benchmarking followed by an introduction to the system from Craig Saunders. We will then have a panel session with Glenn Lyon, Lucas Wuersching, Andrew McKay, Grant Oswald and Malcolm Gillies to discuss the design, the performance and some of the considerations for implementation. 
We will be leaving Moree a 7am on Tuesday. Please contact Lou on 0427521498 

The Gwydir Valley is currently experiencing a once in a decade event with Copeton Dam filling and spilling, along with most rivers and streams flowing naturally. 

Zara Lowien, Executive Officer of Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association who represents water users in the valley said whilst it is rare to see Copeton Dam this full and spilling, this signifies the region is at the start of the boom, of our historical boom and bust cycle here in the Gwydir Valley.

“Copeton Dam filling and our rivers constantly flowing, as they have for nearly a year now, is exactly what happens here when it finally does rain” she said.

“These conditions are a far cry from those a few years ago, when environmental water and high security deliveries were the only sources of water keeping parts of our rivers flowing, while others just didn’t flow at all” she said.

Want to find our for yourself what the new NSW Metering Rules mean for you? The NSW Government is holding two virtual metering field days to help you understand the rules and what you need to do to be compliant.

You will be able to ask questions to a panel from the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment - Water group, WaterNSW and NRAR staff.   Fee free to ask these questions when registering. 

Metering suppliers will also be presenting information on their products and available to answer your questions.

Session 1
Thursday 28 October
Session1: 12:30pm – 3.00pm

Session 2
Friday 29 October
Session1: 12:30pm – 3.00pm

DPIE is currently seeking watercourse landholder input to develop business cases for the Lower Gwydir and Gingham Watercourses, Lower Mehi River and Ballin Boora Creek.

Over the next few months they will be working with the local community to develop the business case. There will be a series of community gatherings followed by local workshops to: discuss project objectives and opportunities, bring local knowledge and community needs into the scoping of potential measures, create strategies for on-ground outcomes.

Landholders in the project area should have received information in the mail however if you are located in the project area and did not receive a letter please contact us.    The community gatherings from next Monday 19 July – 22 Thursday July 2021

Find out more:

Online: environment.nsw.gov.au/nbtk/gwydircmp

Email: gwydir.cmp@environment.nsw.gov.au

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?

The NSW Government session will cover key information to help you get measurement ready. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions to a panel from the department's Water division and NRAR.

Trade stalls will be held after the information session so you can meet and connect with metering suppliers, installers and key department staff from the floodplain harvesting licencing and approvals team.

Moree
Thursday, 11 March
10:00am – 1:30pm
Max Theatre, Level 1/30 Heber St, Moree
Register to attend this session

NSW Department are holding face-to-face consultation on proposed rules for floodplain harvesting in the Gwydir Valley for the regulated and unregulated water sources, in Moree on Wednesday 24th February and Thursday 25th February.  Due to COVID safe restrictions you must register.  Visit the Department website below.

We encourage all members and associated agricultural businesses to attend to hear about this historic reform and how NSW intends to manage it into the future.   Implementing floodplain harvesting will be a significant regulatory shift for our industry and will have community impacts, ad water users adjust to new rules. 

There will be an NDrip field day in Wee Waa, on Thursday 28th January from 10:00 to 11:00am. If you are interested in looking at this gravity powered micro-irrigation system, Please RSVP to peter.birch@elders.com or phone 0428.669.157

GVIA digital technologies and automated Irrigation field day is being held on Wednesday 10th February 2021. Our Covid-19 plan required participants to register to attend. Buses will be leaving Reynolds Fogarty at 7:30am please also register for this. 

Are you aware of pig damage in your crops or to livestock enterprises, but find it difficult to quantify the extent of the damage, and what that equates to in dollar terms? 
To answer this question, Local Land Services has worked with AgEcon to undertake a study that puts figures on the real cost of feral pigs on several different enterprises and to compare control options. 
Join the LLS online for our first webinar back for 2021. Register here. 
When
11 Feb 2021 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dont Forget the GVIA has funds available to support producers in our region with the control of feral pigs. For more information contact the office; 02 67521399

Irrigation Australia has announced the first dates for the NSW subsidised storage meter installation and validation courses.  To ensure you have a compliant storage meter with the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy, your storage meter must be inspected and or new approved meter, installed by someone that has completed this course.  

There is an information session being held for installers and suppliers to learn more on Thursday, 22 October 2020 10:30am-12:30pm and you need to register online at https://kapara.rdbk.com.au/landers/b01851.html  For more information visit Irrigation Australia website or review the Healthy Floodplains Measurement page.

The NSW Government released their 20- 40-year draft Gwydir Regional Water Strategy to look at how to improve regional water security, build resilience and stronger communities and environments. It is about how to best manage the challenges that are facing the Gwydir region. This strategy looks at historical and a worst case scenario of climatic sequence as part of the assessment of challenges that may face the region.  The strategy provides a long list of proposed projects, both infrastructure, rules-based, research and review and skills orientated, to be considered by the community.  These should be reviewed by the community as a chance to have a say on future investment in the region.  

There is a live webinar on 15 October 2020 and face-to-face meetings in Moree on 22 October 2020.

Save the Date: The GVIA will host the Smarter Irrigation for Profit 2 field day on Wednesday the 10th of February 2021. We will be having the field day at Keytah, where several of our Smarter Irrigation researchers and partners will be talking about new technology, smart sensing and remote control. Follow the link to the website for more information on Smarter irrigation for Profit 2

The Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association will host an online Annual General Meeting on 30th September 2020, starting at 10am.  The AGM will be followed by a General Meeting until 12pm.  The location will be the GVIA office, 100 Balo Street Moree.  Our COVID Safe Plan restricts the number of attendees and as a result, we will be providing an online option via Microsoft Teams for video conferencing or dial in.  Members must RSVP to either secure a seat in the office or receive their personal conference link.  Nominations for the GVIA Committee are being received, please see the link below to access the nomination form.  All financial members as of June 2020 are eligible to nominate.

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.

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. 

An independent panel has released a draft report on the management of the 2020 northern Murray-Darling Basin first flush event that restricted access in the Gwydir Valley to unregulated, supplementary and floodplain harvesting in February 2020. 
The panel is seeking community feedback on its draft report following an earlier public consultation in May 2020 and are hosting an online webinar with their draft results on Monday, 27 July at 1pm. 
Its encouraged all members should participate.
Limited capacity is available in the GVIA office to attend due to COVID restrictions, please contact the office.

The department, together with WaterNSW, will be holding public information sessions via webinar during May and June 2020 with the session for the Norther region, including the Gwydir on 28 May 2020. See the link below to register for this presentation.

The sessions will provide an update on the water availability outlook, climatic trends, system flows and storages levels. Lessons learnt from the current drought and the impacts of drought on groundwater will be discussed, as well as ongoing support available for communities.

Water availability including prospects for allocations for the new water year starting July 1 2020 will also be discussed.

With the response to Covid-19, the GVIA office is now closed and staff are rotating being in the office. Appointment can be made if required.  Our work continues and both Zara and Lou are still available by phone; 02 67521399 or email. Please dont hesitate to contact us. Stay safe and well. Thank You 

The Gwydir Field Day planned for tomorrow has had to be cancelled. We apologise for the inconvenience. 

The Gwydir CGA would like to invite you to join us for the 2020 Gwydir Field Day.
The field day will provide an opportunity to look at some new and innovative technologies including the CSD variety trials, XtendFlex , a machine vision app for insect management and the canopy temperature sensors. There will be an update from the CSIRO breeding team and the NSW DPI water productivity benchmarking project.

The Gwydir Field Day has had to be postponed due to wet weather. Neither farms are accessible due to heavy rainfall.
We will notify you as soon as we are able to reschedule the event.

The Gwydir Cotton Growers Association would like to invite you to join us for the 2020 Gwydir Field Day which will be showcasing new and innovative technologies including the CSD variety trials, XtendFlex , a machine vision app for insect management and the canopy temperature sensor. There will be discussion on the impact of temperature and climate on cotton production as well as an update from the CSIRO breeding team.
RSVP to Secretary@gwydircotton.com.au or call Lou on 0427 521 498 or 02 6752 1399

The independent expert panel appointed to study the social and economic conditions affecting communities in the Murray-Darling Basin will be in Moree on  Friday 18th October 2019 from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at the Town and Country Club, 5 Frome St.
The panel wants to hear from communities to assess how lived experience aligns with analysis and research, understand key trends, drivers and impacts from water reform, and learn of community-led ideas and solutions.
Please register your interest in attending by email to: Independentpanel@mdba.gov.au stating that you will be attending the Moree session. Thank you.

From the 20th to the 26th of September Moree will host a number of innovative Agtech founders. The intention is to connect these Agtech businesses with farmers to ensure that the products and services being developed align with the needs of farmers. The tour includes an irrigation tour, a cotton research tour and broadacre and livestock tours in the Moree region. With a wrap up Pitch night at BAMM on Thursday 25th September. 
For more information please contact Brooke Sauer 0427 090 279 or brooke@intellectag.com

Come and join B&W Rural for a BBQ lunch at 12:30pm, Friday 13 September 2019 at the B&W Rural Office.
B&W Rural will have representatives from N-Drip giving a demonstration and talk about their new gravity fed drip irrigation technology. This has the potential for labour savings and huge water savings in years to come. See flyers attached and the below link for more information.
Please RSVP by 9am Friday to Loretta Menzies; p: (02) 6750 7000 | e: Loretta.Menzies@elders.com.au

The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Water Division late Friday night released their final version of their Independent Review of Floodplain Harvesting Policy Implementation as well as the NSW Government’s Floodplain Harvesting Action Plan to respond to this advice. The NSW Government will also be holding public consultation on these documents, due to start in Narrabri on Monday, 9 September 2019.
We’ve asked for regional DPIE offices to be set up to access the webinar on Wednesday 18^th for those that cannot make one of the locations.  For GVIA members, our office will be set up with the webinar. 
Zara Lowien, Executive Officer of the Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association, said it’s important that anyone in NSW that has a dam that can collect rainfall runoff from across their farm, considers attending a consultation session or the webinar.

Soil Health Workshop is to be held in Moree from 10:30am on Thursday 29th August 2019 at the Town and Country Club. The workshop is aiming to improving knowledge on microbes, rotations, visual assessments and all things soil health. It will include a daytime discussion and theory session, followed by a visit to a soil pit and dinner to finish the day.
Presenters and panel representatives include Oliver Knox, Mike Stone, Brendan Warnock, Guna Nachimuthu, David Freebairn and Pathologist Duy Le.

IAL are running a two day Meter Validation and Installation course in Moree on the 25th & 26th of September 2019. The course covers the new Australian Standards for control of rural water meter installation and validation, an explanation of the pattern approval process for meter manufacturers and what installers need to know when validating installations, site preparation, component installation, site reinstatement and commissioning and the field assessment of meter installations.
At completion of the course participants will have three units of competency towards certification for Meter Validation and Installation;
NWPIRR014  Install meters for rural water supplies,
NWPIRR022  Maintain meters for rural water supplies and
ACHWHS301 Contribute to work health and safety processes.

The LLS are supporting a series of workshops designed to increase understanding of risks and opportunities in your farm business, identify gaps and improve the financial basis and natural assets or check the direction of your farm business. There will also be information on accessing funding for on-ground works or training.
A session will be held at Garah on Wednesday 21st August, for more information or to register contact Keith Walker on 0428 432 784 or keith.w.walker@lls.nsw.gov.au

The NSW Government will be hosting a water metering information session in Moree on Monday the 15th July 2019. There will be representatives from the Water Renewal Taskforce and the Natural Resources Access Regulator presenting on the new rules to help water users understand what they need to do to comply. The department will be seeking feedback on amendments to the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018, and provide an opportunity for entitlement holders to ask questions.
To register please follow the link following.