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GMW is Australia’s largest rural water corporation, with an asset base valued at approximately $5 billion. It is responsible for irrigation infrastructure servicing a region covering 68,000 square kilometres.
Decisions about the maintenance, replacement and adjustment of GMID assets have to be made by factoring in many strategic challenges. These include reduced water availability, climate change, National Water Initiative obligations, a changing customer base and irrigation infrastructure upgrades through the $2 billion Connections Project carried out from 2008 to 2020.
Five recommendations focus on asset management.
Implementation progress
Recommendations 12, 13, 15 and 16 are complete. These focus on a full review of assets and asset management performance, lessons learned from the Connections Project and an updated investment framework.
The fourth recommendation 14 has been embedded in GMW’s ongoing practices for future delivery.
This involves developing a 50-year asset management plan to address the potential reduction in the GMID’s footprint over the next 50 years from changing environmental, market and cost challenges. The GMW Board and Service Planning Committee will monitor delivery progress and report this in the Corporate Plan.
Looking ahead, GMW’s focus is on:
- A targeted, risk-based approach to identifying priority asset maintenance and replacement works.
- Making sure the asset base reflects service requirements and demand from customers.
Case study
Channel-by-channel assessment - All 5,870 km of channel/pipe network
The channel-by-channel assessment involved GMW developing a framework to assist with asset management and rationalisation. GMW now has up-to-date data on the condition and use of every GMW channel, divided into 213 ‘pods’ or subsections of channels. This supports a more strategic approach to asset management, maintenance and replacement planning.
In 2017 the unequal distribution of water delivery across the network and the question of future planning was the reason for developing a more intelligent channel-by-channel asset management approach.
Page last updated: 16/10/23