Northern Midlands farmers will begin receiving water from a new $218 million irrigation scheme next week, with construction now complete.
The Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme will deliver 25,500 megalitres a year through more than 150 kilometres of underground pipeline and will become operational next Thursday.
It will service farming districts including Ross, Campbell Town, Conara, Barton, Macquarie and the Lower Isis Valley.
Tasmanian Irrigation CEO Mike Sylvester said 96% of the available water had already been sold, a week before the scheme goes live.
He said it had been Tasmania’s driest August in 44 years and the water would make a difference this season.
“If water wasn’t coming this season, the farmers would be making choices to cut back on crops and cut back on livestock,” he said.
Sylvester said Tasmanian Irrigation delivers water with 95% reliability, allowing farmers to make long-term and intergenerational investment decisions.
The $217.96 million project was funded with $108.98 million from the federal government, $72.26 million from the state government and $36.72 million from irrigators buying water entitlements.
The government says the scheme is expected to contribute $54 million a year to the Tasmanian economy once fully operational.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said Tasmania had led the nation in harnessing water for agriculture.
“We are the envy of the rest of the nation when it comes to our partnership of state, federal and farmers,” he said.
Primary Industries and Water Minister Gavin Pearce said irrigation allowed farmers to grow crops not traditionally planted in the region, such as canola.
“It transforms regions, it gives farmers confidence, it gives farmers the ability to unlock equity in their farms because their land value has suddenly increased,” he said.
Federal Member for Lyons Rebecca White said she understood 50 farmers are part of the scheme.
“The irrigators in this district have been working under pretty dry conditions for generations,” she said.
“For them to now have surety of water supply is going to transform the way that they farm.”
Farmer Will Bennett, whose property near Ross hosted the announcement, said the reliability of the water was the key for his property.
“We’ll know every year we’re going to have this water and therefore we can plan ahead what crops we want to grow or we can increase our livestock numbers accordingly,” he said.
Tasmanian Irrigation plans to bring a winter water product to market in future, which would increase the scheme’s capacity.
