Through investments in efficiency measures, the Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) Water Efficiency Project offers a chance to reclaim water for the environment. The Backbone Transformation Project (BTP) and the Shepparton East Project are two subprojects included in this proposal (SEP). Together, these projects will save 15.9 GL of water at $177.5 million.

The Goulburn-Murray Water Efficiency Program of the Australian Government has provided the price of $1.5 billion in financing for efficiency improvements.

To safeguard communities from additional socio-economic effects of water recovery, the Goulburn Murray Darling Basin Plan mandates evaluating all efficiency measures that recover additional water for the environment to ensure compliance with the socio-economic criteria (below). Basin Ministers agreed upon these criteria.

  • Water savings' validity
  • Water costs may be affected in the future.
  • Participation in the community and industry
  • The long-term sustainability of the proposed companies and irrigation areas
  • The anticipated results for society, the environment, and the culture
  • Effects of outside parties on regional communities, the water market, and irrigation districts
  • Chances for integrated implementation
  • To increase drought and climate resilience

A crucial element of the socio-economic evaluation of projects is the possibility for public comment. Therefore, the Victorian Government must consider public opinion when comparing water efficiency projects to the established socio-economic standards.

Goulburn-Murray Water has started work on the Water Efficiency Project in response to the success of the GMW Connections Project, which resulted in the saving of 429 gigaliters of water (WEP). The Commonwealth Government is funding the $177.5 million modernisation project, which will save the area an additional 15.9 gigaliters of water without requiring any work on farms.

The WEP anticipates raising irrigation standards for more than 1000 clients and providing around 1000 employment in the region to build it, preventing buybacks for irrigators.

The project will lower the organisation's expenditures, benefiting them and their clients with an anticipated $167.5 million rise in the area GDP.

The project began in 2021 with a Winter Works package and will finish in 2023 as per the expectations.

Some Tips for Improving Water Efficiency with Goulburn Murray Water Trading Price:

 

  • Smart irrigation systems (with optimisation and real-time control)
  • Automated irrigation systems
  • Conventional irrigation systems.

Water savings and entitlements eligibility

Water savings were transformed into water shares for transmission to the Commonwealth under the financing arrangement for the Connections Project. The Victorian Government released a technical document for estimating water savings and a Water Savings Protocol to support this procedure. Savings calculation compares losses before and after modernisation projects.

The Protocol stipulates an independent audit of water savings to confirm finishing the work and computing the estimated water savings.

The GMW Connections Project's total long-term average yearly audited water recovery as of June 2019 is 378 GL (Stage 1 and Stage 2). 302 GL of the verified water savings come from modernisation projects.