The Smart Farms Projects
Released/reviewed: Aug 2011
Background
The Hawkesbury Nepean River system is under significant stress. Water extraction, catchment development, and contaminated runoff have resulted in excessive weed growth, algal blooms and elevated levels of pollutants.
The Australian Government, through its Water for the Future Program, funded a Hawkesbury Nepean River Recovery Program to improve the health of the River. The Program aimed to increase environmental flows and reduce nutrients entering the River system.
The Program included various components that were co-ordinated by state & local government agencies. NSW Department of Primary Industries worked with the Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Authority to implement the NutrientSmart Farms and WaterSmart Farms project components from 2009 - 2011. Both projects worked with landholders in the Hawkesbury Nepean catchment below the major water supply dams (see map). Due to the many synergies between the two projects they were delivered together, and were known collectively as the Smart Farms projects.
Smart Farms Project Area
The Smart Farms Projects
Aquatic weeds covering the Hawkesbury River at Windsor, October 2008 (Photo: Rebecca Coventry)
NutrientSmart Farms & WaterSmart Farms worked with landholders in the project area to improve nutrient management and water use efficiency.
The projects aimed to help landholders improve production efficiency and reduce costs, reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering waterways and achieve water savings.
To achieve this a series of training programs covering various nutrient and water management topics were delivered. Grants were also distributed to successful landholders to undertake on-ground nutrient and water management works on their farms.
Contact
Smart Farms officers are available to assist with enquiries about the project. Bilingual officers are also available to assist landholders in Chinese, Vietnamese & Arabic interpretations.
For more information on any aspect of Smart Farms please contact the Smart Farms Information Line on 4588 2118.
