The CRC for Irrigation Futures was formed in 2003 to deliver research, education and training which gives confidence to growers, industry, governments and the communities to invest in better irrigation, a better environment and a better future. The mission of the CRC is to:

• Facilitate cooperative research networks and programs which continuously improve irrigation policy, tools, practices and processes to:
  • double irrigation water use productivity;
  • improve profitability for commercial irrigation enterprises; and
  • protect and enhance landscapes and the environment.

The CRC for Irrigation Futures has 14 core partners, representing six Universities, four State Departments, two Water service provides and two National bodies. Together the partner organisations have committed $43.7 million in staff time and support and a further $6.0 million cash to the CRC over seven years.

The core partners are: Charles Sturt University, CSIRO, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Goulburn-Murray Water, Australian Government Land and Water, Queensland Department of Natural Resources & Mines, Victoria Department of Primary Industries, South Australian Research and Development Institute, SunWater, The University of New England, The University of Melbourne, University of South Australia, The University of Southern Queensland and The University of Western Sydney. There are also 5 supporting partners.

While the administrative centre for the CRC is located at USQ in Toowoomba, Queensland, the CRC operates as a ‘virtual’ CRC with CRC staff located at USQ, UWS in Sydney and NSW DPI at Bathurst, Program Leaders and Zone Leaders are located across eastern Australia. Some 15 research and extension staff of NSW DPI located across the state are active contributors to the CRC.

More information about the CRC for Irrigation Futures is available at www.irrigationfutures.org.au.

NSW DPI research in the CRC for Irrigation Futures

The CRC is now operating under Research Plan Mark 2 which identifies two broad research themes known as SHARP and Toolkits. The System Harmonisation for Applied Research Planning [SHARP] theme will see five Regional Irrigation Business Partnerships (RIBPs) established across Australia to capture the production and environmental gains from research improving regional irrigation systems management and to market these benefits through a regional business plan or investment prospectus. The NSW based RIBPs are likely to be based within the Murrumbidgee catchment and the South Creek catchment in western Sydney. Within ‘Toolkits for Improving Irrigation Performance at the Enterprise Level’ NSW DPI has an important role in a number of research areas :

• Evaporation Mitigation: Monolayers appear to provide the most viable option to reduce evaporation losses from large storages (>10 ha) and, by the adoption of evaporation mitigation tools to optimise application and manage monolayer application, greater than 15% savings in evaporation losses could be achieved at a cost of less than $150/ML water saved.
• Adaptive Irrigation Control Systems: That irrigated crop production responses and profitability will be increased, and environmental impacts minimised, by the adoption of adaptive irrigation control systems which optimise the spatial and temporal precision of irrigation applications and reduce energy inputs.
• Solute Signatures: That root zone solute signatures can be used for the evaluation and optimization of irrigation performance including identifying the limits to the responsible practice of irrigation.
• Spatial Evapotranspiration: Management of irrigation water use in Australia will be significantly improved by developing and adopting a consistent method of estimating evapotranspiration from weather data and harnessing the power of irrigation informatics.
• Education and Training: NSW DPI is assisting in providing supervisors for PhD students and through its extension staff assisting in expanding the professional skill base of the irrigation industry, from researchers and technologists to irrigation operators and farm workers, and to further develop the industry learning culture. The activities of this program are being developed and delivered in concert with traditional training providers to the irrigation industry.