Project Name:
On-Farm Water Use Efficiency Benchmarking Project
Client:
Department of Sustainability and Environment
Department of Primary Industries
Project Description:
In April 2001, Hydro Environmental was engaged by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, and the Department of Primary Industries, to develop a framework to benchmark the Water Use Efficiency (WUE) of Victoria’s Irrigated Agricultural enterprises. The project led to the preparation of the “Farm Water Use Efficiency Technical Reference Booklet”, which was published in February 2004.
The technical reference booklet provides a terminology reference and a platform to facilitate consistent reporting of on-farm WUE, through defining:
- a set of common on-farm WUE performance reporting indicators
- indicative crop water use targets for selected crops, including annual pasture, perennial pasture, vines, peaches, pears and apples
- a process to support on-farm WUE reporting at a State and regional level.
The performance reporting indicators focus on different aspects of WUE reporting, and together provide a clear picture of the overall on-farm WUE performance.
Recipients of Government funding for WUE projects are being encouraged by DSE to use the reporting framework detailed in the technical reference booklet to demonstrate on-farm WUE improvements. It is expected that a further project will be initiated in the near future by DSE to address a number of the data gaps identified through this project.
Key Skills Applied:
Water planning and management, community consultation, irrigation practices, water regulatory framework, knowledge management, capacity building, project management, report writing, water policy, plant water use, water savings initiatives and strategies, on-farm re-use and target setting.