Research to support management of key Murray region site

A research partnership between Federation's Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC) and Murray Irrigation will oversee the effective end-of-life management of a critical water management system in the Murray-Darling Basin while planning for the site's environmental, ecological and financial sustainability.

Since its completion in 1988, the Wakool Tullakool Sub Surface Drainage System (WTSSDS), which has been operated by Murray Irrigation, has protected around 50,000 hectares of land in the Wakool area from high water tables and salinity and is now nearing the end of its life.

Murray Irrigation delivers water and services to landholdings and the environment via gravity-fed earthen channels within the NSW Murray Regulated River Water Source across the southern Riverina. The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the FRRC who will develop recommendations to ensure the effective end-of-life management of the system.

The research will seek to find ways for how the site can be managed with minimal financial and ecological impact while also exploring the site's potential for future employment, recreation, and development opportunities.

Professor Andrew Barton, a water resources expert from the FRRC, says the site has unique geography and complexity, with elevated groundwater levels, adjoining floodplains, and areas of environmental significance.

To manage the potential of groundwater impacting irrigated farmland, a salt interception scheme – the largest in the southern hemisphere – was installed to pump salty groundwater away from the system to lower the water table and make the land more reliable for agricultural and other uses.

"This is where we hope to offer a helping hand, as the groundwater pumping infrastructure is coming to the end of its useful life, with cost estimates to replace it like-for-like being significant for a constitutionally not-for-profit group," Professor Barton said.

"With greater knowledge around climate change and water resources, ongoing work in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and shifts happening in the region due to the economics of irrigated agriculture, there's an opportunity now to put in something more fit-for-purpose that could lower costs, still serve the irrigators in the region, and be more responsive to the environmental needs of the region."

Professor Barton says an initial area of work will be to re-visit the region's groundwater level characteristics to then, among other things, help design a revised and updated monitoring arrangement. This will inform the next steps around how the WTSSDS might be reconfigured.

"Managing water resources is a complex task and with many competing interests. This is an opportunity to bring together our collective expertise and increase the certainty of what water is actually available and how best to sustainably manage it in the interests of all key stakeholders." Professor Andrew Barton

FRRC co-director Professor Keir Reeves says the work will include stakeholder engagement sessions and bring in other disciplines from the research centre, drawing in researchers from the FRRC to study historical and societal aspects of the site.

"The Wakool Tullakool site is an important site in the Murray region and the terms of the agreement will see our team of researchers undertake a holistic review of the site and provide recommendations on ensuring its environmental, ecological and financial sustainability," Professor Reeves said.

"Murray Irrigation want their communities to be sustainable, so we will address the questions around the water issues and salinity, but we will explore the opportunities that may come up, particularly circular economy opportunities.”

Professor Barton says this is strategic relationship that will span into a multi-year and multi-project partnership with the FRRC providing the technical, scientific, engineering and societal research input to help Murray Irrigation address some of its unique challenges.

"Our wide-ranging skills mean Federation can bring something quite unique – a multifaceted skill-set within the university to focus on a wide range of issues and dealing with all of these complexities that Murray Irrigation alone doesn't have the expertise to do,” he said.

"With forecasts of El Nino and an expected return to dry conditions in South-East Australia, we're once again reminded how variable the climate is and how intense the challenges can become. These conditions make it difficult for many communities, and with our input, we can help address some of these challenges."