UPPER South East livestock producers, dependent on mains water, are a step closer to reducing their crippling bills.
The Coorong Water Transportation Scheme is aiming to deliver a 30 per cent discount on the $3.33 a kilolitre paid by SA Water users, by getting producers in the Coorong and Tatiara District Council to sign up to a bulk supply agreement.
Last month, Regional Development Minister Geoff Brock announced $50,000 funding towards a feasibility study to find the most cost-effective model to transport water using SA Water infrastructure.
Coorong District Council, Regional Development Australia Riverland and Murraylands and several landholders have contributed another $35,000 to the project, which has enlisted Seed Consulting Services.
SCS helped strike a deal in 2015 between the Clare Region Winegrape Growers Association and SA Water, pumping water off-peak and reducing the grapegrowers’ irrigation costs significantly.
So far, 54 irrigators have signed up to the three-year trial, known as the Clare Valley Peak Water Transportation Scheme.
Irrigators source the water themselves (secured under their own River Murray licence) and use SA Water infrastructure to transport the water when pumping is cheaper and there is spare capacity in the network.
Coorong Water Transportation Scheme working group chair Henry Angas says a similar agreement is needed urgently for the Coorong – with a breeding cow drinking at least $100 of water each year.
“The pipe infrastructure opened up this country 50 years or so ago to livestock, but it is a burden to businesses’ operations, particularly those with cattle,” he said.
“The recent commodity price rise has offset some of the concerns but the market is cyclical and prices will not be this good forever.”
An increasing number of landholders had invested in alternative water sources, including securing long-term water allocations from Lake Albert and pumping it inland. From these projects, Mr Angas estimates SA Water has lost at least $1 million a year in revenue.
“It is in SA Water’s interest to ensure people keep using their system and guarantee volumes used. In this area from Meningie to Field there are three pipelines (two owned by private landholders) and the SA Water pipe would have the least volumes flowing through it.”
“We are hoping to get a significant reduction (in price). It is no good only getting 10 cents or so off, it has to be worthwhile.”
Mr Angas hopes an agreement can be in place by the beginning of the 2017-18 financial year, or more producers will take water security into their own hands.
“The Water Minister (Ian Hunter) has always said those in the city are subsidising the country users but this has to be one of the cheapest delivery systems in Australia with a short distance from the Murray and only 150 metres pumping height,” he said.
“But one megalitre (through the mains) costs $3300, which is more than an irrigator pays for permanent water at $2800/MgL.”
Coorong District Council chief executive officer Vincent Cammell says the high cost of water has been a barrier to the expansion of intensive industries and dryland livestock production.
“The big bounce in cattle prices has offset some of the issue but we have seen properties replacing cattle with sheep,” he said. “Our soils can handle cattle better than sheep which do more environmental damage from erosion.”
Mr Cammell says there are a number of issues to be worked through, including increasing storage capacity to ensure 24-hour delivery but he is “quietly confident” it will be a success.
The scheme hopes to sign up at least 300 of 900 properties in the Coorong and Tatiara areas which depend on mains water.
