Victorian Irrigation Drainage Program Strategic Direction
Surface water and groundwater management are essential activities in irrigated landscapes. They help to manage water in excess of plant needs and its impact on soil health, the productive capacity of land, and the natural environment. In Victoria, surface and sub-surface drainage infrastructure has been used to manage elevated water tables and salinity. History has shown that intensive irrigation is not sustainable without adequate drainage.
Dry climate conditions, low water availability and changes in irrigation practices over the past decade have lessened some of the threats posed by elevated watertables and salinisation.
A review of the Victorian Irrigation Drainage Program highlighted that drainage infrastructure is an essential feature of sustainable irrigation systems, in a wet or dry climate.
The Victorian Irrigation Drainage Program Strategic Direction 2010–15 provides an understanding of the current drainage program in Victoria, the potential future irrigation and drainage scenarios that the program will need to respond to, and outlines a revised strategic direction and priority projects. The Strategic Direction is written for a period of transition. It provides direction for investment in irrigation drainage schemes in a climatically uncertain future. Investment in priority projects is subject to government priorities.