Groundwater project makes good headway

To maximise efficiency and productivity at Langhorne Creek Kimbolton Vineyards, director Nicole Clark wanted to look into ways that could ensure water security and quality.

The project received funding from the federal government's Water Efficiency Program and built on work previously undertaken through the Commonwealth OnFarm Further Irrigation Efficiency Pilot programme.

Ms Clark hosted government representatives, whom instigated conversations and new project ideas.

Based at Langhorne Creek at the bottom end of the Murray-Darling Basin, water management has always been front of mind for the third-generation vigneron.

After the millennium drought, like many local growers, she elected to access irrigation water through the Creeks Pipeline Company and remove their reliance on Lake Alexandrina water.

Ms Clark said accessing water through the CPC was fantastic.

"This water supply is much better quality because it has lower salinity levels which assists with producing high quality fruit.

"However, our major limitation has been that we could only irrigate the vineyard with the flow rate supplied at the property connection."

This meant, that it took more than two days to irrigate the entire vineyard because there were 13 individual irrigation shifts to cover 36 hectares.

"The initial plan was to upgrade the automation and control system. However, with the increasing frequency of extreme heat and losing fruit in recent vintages, we knew we needed to modernise the irrigation system to manage this better," Ms Clark said.

"We decided to invest in a new 14-megalitre on-farm storage dam and pump station. This would enable higher flow rates to the vineyard and reduce the number of irrigation shifts to four."

When planning the project and trying to future-proof the property, the discussion turned to increasing the use of licenced groundwater that the vineyard could access.

Groundwater is quite salty so CPC water been the preferred option while River Murray water allocations have been good, resulting in minimal to no use of groundwater for close to 10 years.

One strategy to create a more stable water supply of suitable quality is to use River Murray water and groundwater mixed together.

Working with the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board, an assessment of how much groundwater could replace River Murray water when mixed together to meet the required water quality standard was undertaken.

The mixing would occur in the new storage dam. Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board Sustainable Water team leader Michael Cutting said the calculations for substituting groundwater were based on the salinity levels of River Murray water and groundwater, and the relative volumes of each needed to fill the dam while maintaining acceptable salinity levels.

"We knew the new storage dam would achieve water savings by being able to irrigate proactively rather than reactively, but the ability to utilise available groundwater was an added bonus.

"It highlights the strategic importance that on-farm storage can provide, and the efficiency and productivity gains that can be achieved.

"A region like Langhorne Creek is reliant on irrigated agriculture. We want to ensure farms are as sustainable and adaptive as possible.

The Water Efficiency Program is supported by the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board through funding from the Australian Government. World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2 billion people living without access to safe water.

RELATED: Staff shortages impact vegetable growers