Irrigators given more time to implement water savings grant

by S. C.

The Rudd Government has extended the deadline for irrigators to increase water use efficiency on their farms under the Murray Darling Basin Irrigation Management Grant program.

The extension will assist irrigators who received the grant of up to $20,000 up-front and are now having difficulty spending the funds by the original deadline of 30 June 2009.

The devastation of the Victorian bushfires and recent flooding in the northern Murray Darling Basin have made it difficult for some irrigators to find contractors to undertake important work.

Irrigators now have until 31 December 2009 to undertake on-farm work such as laser levelling, reconfiguring irrigation systems, planting water-efficient crops and paying fixed water charges.

“Irrigators came to the Government and asked for some flexibility in the grant program due to the floods and fires,” Mr Burke said.

“This on-farm work is important to help make our irrigation industries more resilient, in the face of severely reduced water allocations.

“It is one way to help farmers meet the future challenges of climate change, while minimising the impact of reduced water allocations on productivity.

“Grant recipients who are finding it hard to source contractors should contact Centrelink and discuss making the necessary arrangements, as soon as it can reasonably be done.”

Applications for the grants closed on 31 March 2009 and Centrelink is no longer accepting new applications.