What is it?

The Sunraysia Modernisation Project (SMP) is an infrastructure upgrade program that will modernise the irrigation supply infrastructure in the Merbein, Mildura and Red Cliffs Irrigation Districts to provide a year round supply to customers.

This will involve the comprehensive upgrading or replacement of the major components of the pumping and delivery systems. The quality of water and reliability of supply will be substantially enhanced.

Why do we need it?

Current infrastructure

Much of the irrigation infrastructure in the Sunraysia region was designed and installed 50 to 100 years ago to provide service levels below those that are now necessary for today’s modern on farm irrigation systems and for specific crop requirements. This places excessive demands on the existing channel and pump station systems. While there are some areas of high quality assets (for example the new 17th Street high pressure subsystem in the Mildura Irrigation District) overall the supply infrastructure is generally in poor condition and assets are expensive to maintain.  The systems will require increasing levels of maintenance and hence costs as time goes on.

A major failure during summer in any of the pump stations or main channels would have disastrous effects on crops.

Irrigators in the region are concerned with security of supply and in some areas rightly perceive the irrigation system to be run down and with limited residual life.

Thus these systems require significant modernisation if they are to support and promote a resilient irrigation sector for our regions future.