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Sustainable irrigation
Terry Donohoe used to lose about 30 to 40 per cent of his irrigation water. But now he doesn't waste a drop.
With his wife Lorraine, Terry runs a 320 hectare horticultural property 'Carramah' six kilometres out of Emerald. For crops like melons and grapes they used to bring water from the Nogoa River along an open ditch to their dam. However, much of the precious water drained away through sandy soils en route and never made it to the dam.
So they started exploring some options such as lining the open channel, but they found the cost was prohibitive and water would still have been lost to evaporation.
"We finally decided that the best answer would be to take the water through closed pipes," said Terry.
Funding
With help from a Central Highlands Regional Resources Use Planning Cooperative (CHRRUP) field officer, Vicki Kuhn, they put a proposal for financial and technical support to the Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA). The Australian Government provided $10,000 towards the project through the FBA.
While this funding was just a small proportion of the total cost, with the Donohues covering the remainder, Terry said it was the catalyst they needed to get started.
"It made the difference between doing the project and not doing it," he said.
Activities
With the help of an excavator they put in around 670 metres of a 525 millimetre pipe, buried two metres deep so the land on top could be used for grapes if necessary.
"It was a big job and took me plus two to three other men to complete it," said Terry. "But it's made a big difference to the place and it means we're saving about a third of the water we were using before."
Further water savings are made with the use of trickle irrigation for the melon crop.
'Carramah' does not have any problems with salinity at present, and Terry believes that the steps he has made to distribute water around the property will keep it at bay.
Achievements
The water savings the Donohoes have achieved spread beyond 'Carramah'.
"It's a community benefit, because Terry is now taking less out of the system, since he doesn't have to cover the shortfall by pumping more water," Vicki said.
More information
- Vicki Kuhn, Field Officer CHRRUP: (07) 4982 2986
- Terry Donohoe: landowner: (07) 4982 1076 or 0418 792 783
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