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National Program for Sustainable Irrigation Publications

Using Recycled Water for Irrigation

An overview of the issues, opportunities and challenges.

All Australians, including farmers and urban consumers, are increasingly aware that our water is both scarce and precious. In recent years, water management has been one of the nation’s most important electoral issues. Water restrictions have limited urban users’ ability to water gardens and wash cars, while irrigators across the country have experienced often drastic cuts in water allocations, affecting food availability and prices. There are two main approaches to (more)...

Using recycled water in horticulture

a growers guide

This guide is designed to assist growers in managing irrigation with recycled water. Like any water source, you will need to ensure that the water quality and its management meet the requirements of your specific quality assurance (QA) scheme. You may also need to meet additional government regulatory requirements for the use of recycled water for horticultural crops. From a crop management perspective, you may need to make some minor changes, since the quality of (more)...

Using Wetting Front Detectors in Furrow Irrigation

The Wetting Front Detector (WFD) is a new tool to help measure how deeply water has penetrated into the soil after an irrigation event. The WFD also captures and stores a soil water sample, which can be analysed for its salt or nutrient content. The first commercial version of the Wetting Front Detector (WFD), called the FullStop, was released in 2004. The FullStop WFD is comprised of a (more)...

Views on Irrigation Policy in Australia

Water policy in Australia is undergoing considerable and unprecedented change. Most recently, the emphasis on the sustainable management of water resources in the Murray Darling Basin has seen a shift of control from the States to the Commonwealth. The declining availability of water and the subsequent approaches taken by governments, have come under increasing scrutiny from the public. Indeed, the actions associated with water policy in Australia, particularly water used for irrigated (more)...

Vital Role for Australian Irrigation - 2008

Discusses irrigation in Australia in the context of global food security, decreasing water resources and the contribution of research and development to innovation.

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Vital Role For Australian Irrigation - 2012

Thi fact sheet summarises Australia’s role in global irrigated food production. Australia’s irrigators have a vital role to play in meeting the challenge of global food security in the context of climate change and a growing global population. With population growth and standards of living and diet increasing in some regions, the demand for food will double in coming decades. Irrigation currently provides 40% of world food supplies and is projected to meet 60% (more)...

Wastewater recycling in nurseries

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation Fact sheet 2005/3

Reducing water run-off, minimising nutrient leaching and optimising irrigation efficiency are major challenges for the nursery industry. A comprehensive review of Australian and international research programs covering all aspects of waste water management in nurseries has been carried out by Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) - a funding partner for the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation. The review identified useful resources for the industry and best practice in (more)...

Water Recycling in Australia

This guide outlines what, why and how to use recycled water in Australian horticulture.

Water Reuse & Recycling in Horticulture

Sustainable Irrigation Program Research Proposal

Australia currently sends to “waste” close to 86% of effluent water. In the past 4 years national re-use of effluent has doubled to 14% of all effluent produced, however this remains a small proportion of the amount of water still running to “waste”. The potential exists to use this water for horticultural production freeing up costly potable water. There are concerns about the use of recycled water from both a horticultural producer and consumer perspective. Participants throughout the (more)...

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Water Smart Cotton and Grains

Case Study

This case study looks at benchmarking irrigation and how it can improve decisions and profitability on Cotton farms using the Watertrack Rapid Tool.

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Water Smart Cotton and Grains

Water Smart Cotton and Grains is a water use efficiency project that improved knowledge transfer and built capacity within these industries to adopt best irrigation practice.

It followed on from the achievements of the ‘Knowledge Management in Irrigated Cotton and Grains’ and ‘Advancing Water Management in NSW’ projects to further improve water use efficiency within the cotton and grains industries.

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Water Use Efficiency

Improving water use efficiency has been a driving force for government and commercial endeavours for several decades but the term can mean different things to different people. For example, to governments water use efficiency may be a key to optimising production from water resources, while for irrigators it may contribute to optimal profit for their business.

Waterwheel Newsletter 10

In this issue:

  • Focus on WA
  • NPIRD news
  • A new way to save water and nutrients
  • National Irrigation Science Network up and running

Waterwheel Newsletter 11

Inside this issue:

  • Focus on WA
  • NPIRD news
  • A new way to save water and nutrients
  • National Irrigation Science Network up and running

Waterwheel Newsletter 12

In this issue:

  • Focus on Namoi Valley
  • NPIRD news
  • Water savings of up to 50% with PRD
  • National irrigation code project
  • Irrigation diary

Waterwheel Newsletter 13

In this issue:

  • Focus on Shepparton Irrigation Region
  • Irrigation a risky business: Study findings
  • New NPIRD projects

Waterwheel Newsletter 14

In this issue:

  • Focus on the Condamine-Balonne
  • Feature on soilwater monitoring
  • Reducing erosion and increasing infiltration with PAM

Waterwheel Newsletter 15

In this issue:

  • Focus on Murray Irrigation Limited Area
  • Burdekin groundwater sustainability initiative
  • Water use efficiency -what does it mean
  • Dates for your diary

Waterwheel Newsletter 16

In this issue:

  • Focus on Southern Rural Water
  • New sustainable irrigation program
  • Project update
  • PRD makes Top 100

Ways to Improve Soil Structure and Productivity of Irrigated Agriculture

Extensive work on soil structure by researcher Dr Bruce Cockroft from Northern Victoria has brought the maintenance of soil structure into the spotlight as a promising area for irrigators to work on to improve their yields. An overview of Cockroft’s research has been prepared by Dr Rob Murray at the University of Adelaide for the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation.