On farm water management

WHY THIS PROJECT IS NEEDED

Drought is an inevitable part of farming in Australia. Managing water effectively can minimise the impacts of drought on livestock, pastures, soil health, and natural assets, ultimately improving production during and after drought.

An on-farm water management plan helps farmers determine their current and future stock and domestic water needs, as well as the capacity to meet these needs through water storage using dams, tanks, and waterways. Developing a farm water management plan (FWMP) can help farmers understand and manage their water resources effectively, especially during dry times.

This project aims to help farmers develop farm water management strategies to improve water quality, maintain livestock health, and preserve soil and natural assets.

In short: this project aims to support landholders in developing farm water management plans to ensure their dams, tanks and waterways meet stock and domestic needs, especially during drought. The project also aims to improve water quality, maintain livestock health, and preserve soil and natural assets.

Project focus

This project assists landholders to prepare farm water management plans and then implement actions identified within individual plans via workshops and individual (or small group) follow-up sessions.

The program steps landholders through aspects of farm water budgets, legislative requirements, storage and reticulation options, water quality benefits and improvements in natural capital.

The process involves assessing water budgets, to ensure storage adequacy for grazing enterprises and to help farmers implement measures to increase their on-farm water storage capacity. The process also helps identify opportunities for improving water quality through fencing dams and riparian areas and designing reticulation systems to deliver water where it’s needed on the farm.

By identifying opportunities and making changes to water storages, farmers can enhance their farm water security, livestock health, pasture management, and overall resilience to drought conditions.

Field days will be held at demonstration sites established across the Murray Local Land Services region to showcase design options and the benefits of completing a farm water management plan.

The first farm water management planning workshops are being delivered by farm water expert Peter Smith, from Sapphire Irrigation.

Farmer experiences of enhancing farm dams

This short video with Matt Lieschke from NSW Local Land Services describes a landowner experience of fencing to protect dam water supply and quality.

On Neil Hamilton’s Maragle property (between Tumbarumba and Tooma) the multiple benefits of securing stock and domestic water supply are on display. This video highlights the advantages and benefits to be gained by enhancing farm dams.

Estimating your dam capacity

Accurately determining your farm water storage is crucial to avoiding surprises when water inflows start to slow.

Farmers wondering how to gauge their dam’s capacity, without taking to the water in a boat, can measure the surface area relatively easily using a tape measure, however depth fluctuates constantly. This is because water diminishes from the top due to evaporation and livestock use, while sedimentation affects bottom levels.

Ahead of our upcoming farm water management planning workshops, we’d like to share a simple and useful method for measuring the depth of your farm dam from the bank.

This short video showcases Greg Bekker from Agriculture Victoria creating and using the DIY DAMDEEP measuring tool.