Completed projects and reports

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Water table monitoring in the Ord River Valley : SRDC Final report WAA001
(SRDC, 2020) Nulsen, RA; Sherrard, JH
Monitoring of groundwater levels has been undertaken in the Ord River Irrigation Area using a network of bores established on farms throughout the Stage I area. These bores, many of which were installed as part of this project, complement a network previously established off farm. They have been monitored on a regular basis and changes in levels have been examined in relation to a range of factors including irrigation and crop management practices, rainfall and irrigation infrastructure management, to allow causal relationships to be established and hence potential management strategies to be developed. Monitoring has been assisted through the equipping of many bores with water depth probes and loggers to automatically record changes in levels over extended periods of time.
A review of institutional arrangements in the Burdekin irrigation area with a view to managing sustainable farming practices in the region : SRDC Final report CG018
(2007) Danzi, E
In the late 1980’s the Burdekin dam commenced operation and resulted in a large area of land being cleared and converted to irrigation. This influx of water has caused the groundwater level to rise alarmingly over the past 20 years from its previous level typically 10 to 15 meters below the surface to around 0.5m in some places in 2009. This is an alarming increase and if not rectified and reversed quickly will lead to significant crop losses and is likely to render some land unviable for farming in the next 5 years.
SRDC Reseach Project final report Building grower capacity to understand and better manage groundwater
(2009) Mio, E; Green, A; Jordan, R; Attard, S; Savorgnan, T
The Upper Haughton Water Balance Study - Building grower capacity to understand and better manage groundwater commenced in July 2006 after growers expressed concerns at the rising groundwater table in the Burdekin River Irrigation Area (BRIA) and in particular the Upper Haughton sugar growing area (Figure 1). Several cane farmers approached BBIFMAC to develop a grower driven project to look at identifying and quantifying the groundwater rise in the area in order to raise awareness within the farming community of this issue. The lower Burdekin region is part of the dry tropics, characterised by a short intense wet season usually occurring from January to March, where two-thirds of its annual rainfall occurs (Petheram et al., 2006). The average annual rainfall for Ayr is approximately 1000mm but is highly variable, ranging from 100mm to nearly 2000mm. In recent years annual rainfall has exceeded the long term average for the area, with 1055mm in 2007, 1280mm in 2008 and 1653mm to October 2009. Almost all of the rain in 2009 fell from January to April with the remainder of the year being very dry. 2009 is currently the second wettest year on record for Ayr. The above average rainfall over the past 3 years has had a major influence on rising groundwater in the BRIA. Previous studies have shown that groundwater levels have remained relatively constant in the BRIA during dry years (since the area was opened to intensive irrigation in 1988), however in wetter than average years, groundwater levels have increased significantly (Petheram et al., 2006). Prior to intensive irrigation in the BRIA, groundwater levels would drop during dry years and rise in wet years. This indicates there has been a change in groundwater behaviour since excess water has been introduced to the system through farm irrigation and SunWater supply channels. From looking at DERM records for various bores across the BRIA, this theory is supported, with most bores showing an upward trend since the area was opened to intensive irrigation in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s (PPK, 2001). Results from the UHWB study have shown groundwater levels rising quickly and consistently, averaging 0.36m per year for the past two years. In some areas groundwater came to within 0.5m of the surface during the 2009 wet season. This poses numerous issues for landholders in this area, including lost production from water logging and the possibility of secondary salinisation in areas of poor water quality. This is currently only occurring in relatively small patches but if the rising trend is allowed to continue across the region, it could affect a much greater area and put the entire industry at risk, costing industry and landholders many millions of dollars and creating huge socio-economic problems.
Best practice irrigation management to maximise profitability and ensure sustainability in the Ord sugar industry : SRDC Final report CSR22
(2003) Wood, AW; Engelke, JM; Sherrard, JH; Plunkett, GM; Triglone, T; Bakker, DM; Horan, HL; Muchow, RC; Inman-Bamber, G
The Ord Sugar industry was established in 1995 with the commissioning of a sugar mill and the first full season of commercial production was in 1996. It is now a major industry in Stage 1 of the Ord Irrigation Area, currently occupying over 4000 hectares and producing around 60,000 tonnes of raw sugar annually for export. The climatic conditions in the Ord impose a high water requirement for sugarcane crops. Growers face a considerable challenge in meeting that requirement whilst maximising their profitability and minimising drainage losses and potential impacts on the environment. Groundwater levels have risen substantially in the 30 years since the start of irrigation in the Ord. Consequently the development of appropriate irrigation practices for sugarcane is a key requirement in the management of rising water tables and in the sustainability of Ord sugarcane production. The first step in developing best practice irrigation management was to gain a better understanding of the range of irrigation practices being used by the industry at the beginning of the project. A survey conducted to benchmark irrigation practices used on the 1995/96 sugarcane crop indicated very high rates of annual water application, making the development of irrigation practices that maximise profitability and minimise groundwater accessions a key priority for the Ord sugar industry.

Completed projects and reports

Browse

Filters

Advanced Search

Filter by

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results