National Program for Sustainable Irrigation Publications

A Bayesian network model for predicting macroinvertebrate community diversity in the lower Loddon River

This report is the third in a series of five produced by NPSI project UMO45 Delivering Sustainability through Risk Management. Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) is a formal process for determining the risk posed by hazards (stressors, threats) to the health of ecosystems. ERA evolved from the need to develop processes that better deal with the complexity of aquatic ecosystems. That is, the (more)...

A review of genetic algorithm technology for irrigation water ordering systems

In Phase 2 of the NPIRD an investment was made into the preliminary testing and incorporation of genetic algorithm technology (GA) for optimisation of advance water ordering in open channel irrigation networks. 

A social appraisal of the South Australian Virginia Pipeline Scheme: Five years

The Virginia Pipeline Scheme (VPS) is the largest scheme of its type in Australia (SA Water 2005; EarthTech 2005) and was established in 1999 to deliver unrestricted Class A reclaimed water to irrigators on the Northern Adelaide Plains (NAP) in South Australia. The purpose of this research was to investigate and report on the various stakeholder perceptions of reclaimed water used in the VPS (more)...

Adaptive learning through five strands of root-zone knowledge

This case study looks at prototyping the automated soil solution sampling and measurement tool to locate salt in the soil profile.

Adopting improved use of current water monitoring technology to manage recharge

Rising watertables are a major threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Future sustainability will depend on the ability of each irrigation farmer to choose paddock-crop-irrigation management combinations that control impacts on watertables on their farm. There is a perception that the technology already exists to enable farmers to manage water sustainably, and that the problem is one of adoption rather than the development of new technology. However, (more)...

Assessment of ecological risk associated with irrigation in the Fitzroy basin

This project in the Fitzroy catchment in Queensland was one of three case studies used to illustrate how ERA may be employed in the management of irrigation areas in Australia. In the problem formulation stage of the ERA process community stakeholders identified issues and helped to prioritise research needs for the second phase. These were that the research should focus on the irrigation area scale and the impact of the decline of water quality (more)...

Assessment of ecological risks associated with irrigation in the Goulburn Broken Catchment

The National Program for Irrigation Research and Development (NPIRD) has established a research project to develop and test a generic framework for assessing the ecological risks associated with irrigation systems. The framework development and partial testing will be informed by case studies in three irrigation systems, the Goulburn-Broken (Victoria), the Ord (Western Australia) and the Fitzroy (Queensland). Each case study is to be implemented in (more)...

Audit and Strategy on Irrigation Education and Skills Development in Australia

Irrigation education and training in Australia is characterised by fragmented, sporadic and diverse attempts at provision. However, there is no lack of goodwill, nor a lack of recognition of the need for education and training provision.

Indeed, the concentration on identifying and refining the need in the last few years has overshadowed and delayed the provision of onground courses and training provision.

Benchmarking the distribution efficiency of an irrigation supply system

Project objectives To benchmark the distribution efficiency (DE) of the various components of a small, open channel gravity irrigation system and irrigation return flows from farms to the surface drainage system. To develop strategies to overcome water losses in the distribution system, including the implementation of smart systems for improved channel operations, system planning and services to improve the integration of distribution systems (more)...