AMD Chartered Accountants, Bunbury, Geraldton, Mandurah, Western Australia

Client Focus

Harvey Water: Irrigation Scheme Success

Harvey Water General Manager Geoff Calder at the Harvey Dam

The South West Region of WA boasts a world class farm irrigation system that is saving water and promoting agricultural and horticultural diversity, thanks to a cooperative of local farmers known as Harvey Water.

In March the final pipes were connected to complete a $100 million project which has seen 450 kilometres of open channel replaced with underground piping in the Harvey and Waroona irrigation districts.

Farmers are already reaping the benefits of more efficient irrigation, growing higher value produce and selling it directly to customers at Farmers Markets established in Harvey, Mandurah and Pinjarra.

This economic and environmental success story began in 1996 when WaterCorp, then known as WA Water Authority (WAWA), identified the irrigation scheme around Harvey as no longer sustainable. It was losing $5m a year.

Faced with losing the lifeblood of their farms, more than 550 irrigation farmers decided they could do a better job. They formed the Harvey Water cooperative and set about the massive task of completely overhauling the irrigation system.

WAWA handed over the assets which included the open channels and the licence to access water from dams including Wellington, Harvey, Stirling, Samson, Waroona and Logue Brook.

Geoff Calder joined Harvey Water as General Manager and he says the cooperative was faced with two major problems.

Firstly, the open channels which carried water from the Darling Ranges storage dams down on to the fertile agricultural land were leaking like sieves, losing 30% of the water volume between dam and farm.

Secondly, the system delivered water in big volumes over short intervals, forcing farmers to use flood irrigation, so growing conditions were not ideal for horticultural crops.

Local ownership and the absence of government support meant Harvey Water had to be entrepreneurial to survive.

Through fees and charges, and good management, the farmers raised $4.5m.

This money allowed them to convert all the channels in Waroona to under ground piping, which was achieved in 2003.

Harvey was a much bigger challenge, with more paddocks in a bigger area, so the cooperative made a deal with the State Government to sell the 17.1 gigalitres of potable water it could save each year by piping the Harvey District.

This water was sent to Perth for drinking water and the money from the sale paid for piping the Harvey District which was finished in March at a cost of $85.5m.

Geoff says the benefits of the new irrigation system will continue to flow for many years. Where sprinklers have replaced flood irrigation, water use has decreased by one third and pasture production has doubled.

The biggest benefit is the free gravity pressure driving the system which means lower energy costs in the future.

With cooperation from local development agencies, Harvey Water has employed Development Officer Richard Yates to promote farm diversity and profitability in food production. He has set up new farmers markets and works with farmers to promote high value uses of water and land such as vegetable growing.

The next challenge for Harvey Water will be underground piping for the Collie irrigation system which will cost $165m.

AMD Chartered Accountants assisted with the financial modeling and reporting aspects of the irrigation project which is a first in Australia and has been presented at irrigation forums worldwide.

In addition, AMD’s Audit and Assurance Team ensured the accuracy of financial reporting throughout the project development, and in auditing Harvey Water’s annual financial report.