Murray Irrigation

Project: PIIOP Round 2

PIIOP was an asset renewal project which involved upgrading ageing infrastructure across our entire footprint to benefit customers by improving water delivery service. Our focus was on providing customers with infrastructure that would last into the future and support the increased need for efficiency, innovation and resilience.

Project summary


Extensive planning and consultation with customers was undertaken after the funding agreement between our company and the Australian Government was signed in 2012. In 2013, works began to upgrade network regulators and farm outlets with automated and/or remote-controlled technology.


Customers now have improved water efficiency, ordering flexibility and the opportunity for higher on-farm productivity.

The PIIOP Round 2 project received $169.2 million in funding from the Australian Government.

PIIOP 2 Final Report

Improving Service at Murray Irrigation

PIIOP Future Focus

Key project benefits


The outlet program involved the upgrade of more than 2,200 farm outlets with modern and efficient Rubicon FlumeGate™ and SlipMeter™ outlets. These outlets offer a greater ability to examine and control water flows. These are across the operational footprint and can be an on-farm outlet or larger outlets that feed to smaller channels. The outlets feature telemetry-enabled systems that allow us to control them remotely. For our farmers and landholders, this means that they can place more water orders per day with less notice, giving them a greater flexibility in their farming practices.

The FlumeGate™

The FlumeGate™ automatically controls the flow of water by varying the gate position.



The SlipMeter™

The SlipMeter™ accurately measures flows even in turbulent conditions, recording the total volume of water passed and the precise amount of water used.

Regulators


The regulator program upgraded concrete infrastructure along the channel system with Rubicon regulators or refurbished existing AWMA regulators. These sites speak to our network of communications towers, known as nodes. This enables us to remotely control them and change water flows and levels throughout the footprint from the office.


The regulator program was completed in September 2017 and comprised 1,404 sites.

System reconfigurations


The reconfigurations program kept customers connected to our channel system but altered their supply point and reduced the length of channels.


Reconfiguration project assessments were based on merit and to date:


  • 88 projects have been completed
  • 2,012ML in water savings has been achieved (exceeding the target of 1,800ML)
  • 144km of footprint has been reduced
  • 199 outlets have been decommissioned
  • 103 regulators have been decommissioned.


Blighty project


This project brought the High Level of Service option to our farmers.


It enabled customer consultation throughout the whole project and sought to prove a number of plans and targets we had as a company.



The biggest impact is on improving the customers’ on-farm operations. Initially, the aim was to expand HLOS over our footprint, but was readjusted to SLOS as most of our farmers do not need four water order changes per day.


Sub-system retirements


The sub-system retirement project was the strategic voluntary retirement of landholdings from our area of operations by disconnecting them from the system.



Funding is being provided to enable these landholders to convert to dryland farming and to assist with the installation of an alternate stock and domestic water supply.


Under the project, landholders transferred their water entitlements to the Commonwealth and terminated their delivery entitlements and associated shares in our company. In total, 29 of 30 landholdings participated in this project.


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