Hugh Cameron and his son, Ian, run an Angus beef and Merino sheep property near Jerilderie in the southern Riverina, and another property for cattle near Euroa.
Although they don’t irrigate they rely on groundwater bores to supply their stock with drinking water, and use modern technology to monitor water levels.
The Camerons use a Farmbot remote sensing device to monitor water levels and to record rainfall.
“I get alerts if the tanks are under or over-full at Euroa and for our major tank, which is about 25km from the homestead.”
The Jerilderie property draws on 25 bores which provide water into tanks and dams, and the Yanko Merino stud is bounded by the Yanco Creek,
One of his concerns is the Yanco Creek Modernisation Project which will install a regulator in the creek.
The regulator is designed to save water, improve access for irrigators and to provide more efficient environmental flows, but Mr Cameron worries that there could be unintended consequences.
“We don’t have great confidence in these things. We are sometimes told one thing, and then that changes and we are left out.”
Thankfully the last season has been an excellent one for rainfall with the farm dams full.
“I’t’s been amazing. We had a very wet January, thunderstorms through February, all after a very good November.”
March 22 is World Water Day. This year’s theme is Groundwater: Making the invisible visible. Read more https://www.worldwaterday.org/
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