During the first month of the irrigation season, from August 15 to September 15, the highest number of water orders our teams received across a day was 32.
However, demand increased sharply from mid-September until the start of October, with daily water orders remaining above 100 and surpassing 300 on six days.
These figures are not unusual compared to seasons gone by, but they do reinforce how quiet the first month of the 2026-27 irrigation season was.
Key to that quiet start was a very wet winter, which helped boost storage levels across northern Victoria after several years of dry conditions.
In fact, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, it was the wettest winter in Victoria since 2016.
The state’s area-averaged rainfall total in winter was 231.2mm, 13 per cent above the 1961 to 1990 average.
In contrast to this, the bureau also tells us that October to December will likely see below average rainfall for much of southern and eastern Victoria, and that minimum temperatures are very likely to be above average across almost all of Australia, including Victoria.
While the wet winter was great to see in terms of providing welcome relief to our customers, the forecasts of drier and warmer temperatures highlights the importance of having good water levels in our storages to help meet customer demands.
As we continue supporting customers through the current season, we’re also planning for the years ahead through Price Plan 2028, which will set our prices, services and investment priorities for 2028 to 2033.
A key part of the engagement occurred in June when our customer committee members from across northern Victoria came together at our annual Customer Committees Summit.
The summit brought together perspectives from irrigation areas, water districts, pumped districts, diversions, drainage services and the Loch Garry flood protection area to help shape future pricing and service options.
Since then, we’ve continued working with customer committees, local government, Traditional Owners and other stakeholders to ensure a broad range of views help inform the plan.
We'll have more to say about engagement opportunities in the months ahead.
In the meantime, anyone interested in following the development of Price Plan 2028 can visit our engagement page at: yoursay.gmwater.com.au/price-plan-L
We’re also currently seeking expressions of interest for five customer committee vacancies: two in GMID East (Murray Valley and Shepparton), and one each in GMID West (Torrumbarry), Pumped Districts (Woorinen) and Water Districts (East Loddon North).
If you want to better understand our work and help shape customer decisions, I strongly encourage you to put in an expression of interest.
Expressions of interest close Sunday, October 18.
Apply at: yoursay.gmwater.com.au/customer-committees
– Steve Capewell
G-MW managing director
18°C