Earlier phases of RWUE and SEQ-IF programs

RWUE - Phase 1
RWUE - Phase 2
RWUE - Phase 3
SEQ-IF - Phase 1

RWUE - Phase 1

The Rural Water Use Efficiency Phase 1 (RWUE1) initiative began in 1999 as a four-year program involving the dairy/lucerne, cotton/grains, horticulture and sugar industries. Each industry program consisted of adoption and extension programs and financial incentive schemes (providing subsidies for selected water-efficient irrigation and irrigation management equipment).

RWUE1 focused on water-use efficiency, and achieved water savings conservatively estimated at greater than 150 000 megalitres per year.

Milestone and evaluation reports on the achievements of RWUE1.

A research and development component of the initiative also funded a range of projects which provided innovative technical data from field trials under Queensland conditions. These projects supported the program's aims of encouraging Queensland growers to adopt efficient strategies to manage on-farm water and practices that minimise environmental impacts.

Reports on the research projects of RWUE1.

RWUE - Phase 2

Rural Water Use Efficiency Phase 2 (RWUE2) was a reduced two-year program after the completion of RWUE1. It involved the same industries but had an expanded focus. The objective was to build on the achievements of RWUE1 and to address the issues of farm management systems and off-farm impacts of irrigated farming activities such as nutrient control.

Information and reports from the research and development projects that were funded under RWUE2.

Final reports from industry partners of RWUE2.

RWUE - Phase 3

The Rural Water Use Efficiency Phase 3 (RWUE3) program involved a partnership between DERM and seven irrigation industries across Queensland. These were the dairy, horticulture, cane and cotton industries from previous programs with the addition of the production sectors of the nursery, flower growing and turf industries.

RWUE3 provided the industries with the means to help irrigators adopt practical water efficiency measures on their properties and to reduce off-farm impacts.

Some examples were:

Dairy provided financial assistance to improve on-farm effluent management and irrigation practices.
Cane used their incentive scheme to help with the purchase of 43 water efficient irrigation works covering about 2000 hectares of cane land.
Cotton developed training modules for the industry’s Best Management Practice workshops of which 27 were conducted.
Horticulture conducted nutrient management trials in North Queensland banana and papaya farms and extending their findings to irrigators who have begun modifying practices to reduce nutrient run off.
Flowers demonstrated the benefits to irrigation management by installing a range of monitoring equipment at in-ground sites and in greenhouse situations.
Nursery also used an incentive program to encourage irrigators to purchase new equipment to help tham improve efficiencies as well as supporting and promoting their Farm Management System.
Turf conducted system assessments and field trials in five regional areas and introduced irrigators to the Turf Accreditation Process (TAP) an industry farm management system.

Broad outcomes were achieved with various activities such as:

field demonstrations on better irrigation management
irrigation system assessments
field trials and workshops
extension services
development of information packages
collaboration with NRM catchment groups
financial incentive schemes to assist irrigators, where applicable.

The program was well supported by Irrigation Australia Ltd, Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures and the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture.

Final reports from participating industries of RWUE3.

SEQ-IF - Phase 1

The recently completed rural water use efficiency program for south-east Queensland, the South East Queensland Irrigation Futures Phase 1 (SEQ-IF1) program, was a partnership between the Department of Environment and Resource Management and major rural industries engaged in irrigation. Through on-ground services provided by the industries, irrigators were given assistance to help them improve on-farm water use efficiency as well as address natural resource management (NRM) issues.

The five major rural industries involved were Dairy, Growcom, and the production sectors of the Flowers, Nursery and Turf industries. The program was also supported by other partners:

Irrigation Australia Limited provided training and technical support to industry development officers.
The National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture (NCEA) assisted with research and development projects as well as developing software tools for irrigators and industry use.
South East Queensland Catchments Ltd had the role to coordinate training sessions and information sharing to industry staff and to ensure program resources were used efficiently.

The main objectives of SEQ-IF were to: