With the irrigation season ending on May 15, Goulburn-Murray Water is well and truly into the swing of our annual Winter Works program.

The irrigation shutdown between May 16 and August 14 gives us the opportunity to perform key maintenance on our delivery system to ensure we can continue to supply water in an efficient and timely manner.

This year’s Winter Works program will see our teams undertake channel bank and gate repairs, bridge works, desilting and weed treatment, with a work program worth around $14.7 million.

We plan extensively for each winter shutdown to ensure we can achieve the most possible in the timeframe.

Harnessing our data is key to this and helps us to work on replacing and repairing assets before they reach their failure point, with the aim of minimal inconvenience to our customers.

Gathering this data includes the use of drones and laser imaging, and I am proud to say that much of this work is done by our own in-house experts, who live in the region and have valuable local experience.

A significant project is an upgrade of the Waranga Western Channel regulator, which is responsible for controlling the distribution of water from Waranga Basin to irrigation districts.

Originally built in the 1920s and last updated in 2003, the concrete regulator, structure, gates, walkways and control systems will all be upgraded and fully replaced.

It will be a multi-year project, and the works undertaken this year will be an important start.

South of Katunga, we’ll be replacing the rail culvert over the Murray Valley No. 6 Channel, which runs under the Shepparton-Tocumwal railway freight line and allows water to flow underneath the train line.

We’ve been working closely with V/Line and Vic Track to deliver these works in the most efficient way, to ensure the least impact on rail services and freight deliveries.

Across the East, West and Central areas, we’ll be dewatering channels to remove silt build-up and other obstructions.

With the drier conditions, we will undertake one of our most comprehensive channel dewatering campaign in more than a decade.

Around 300km of channels will be treated for aquatic weeds. Channel dewatering will allow us to combine natural die-off through cold weather, frost and exposure to the sun with direct spraying using contemporary herbicides.

Silt and weed build-up have a significant impact on our ability to deliver water and can get tangled in our automated gates, so these works will be especially important.

Our weed treatment program benefits from the extensive experience, knowledge and dedication of our staff and means we can now treat more kilometres of channel than ever before.

About 60 G-MW staff will be deployed across the region during our Winter Works program, including field services staff, electricians and mechanics.

We also use local contractors, suppliers and businesses wherever possible to undertake the works, meaning our Winter Works program makes a significant contribution to the regional economy each year — support that we are proud to give our local communities.

The safety of our staff, customers and the local community is a top priority during this period.

There will be increased road traffic and heavy vehicle movement near many of the work sites, so we encourage drivers to keep an eye out and be cautious on country roads.

Our Winter Works program will be wrapped up by early August, giving us the opportunity to allow our channel network to be recharged and ready for the 2025-26 season opening on August 15.

Delivering a reliable service is a major part of G-MW’s commitment to our customers, and the work done during winter means that we can continue to deliver the water you need at the time you request it.

For more information and a full map of Winter Works locations, go to: https://www.gmwater.com.au/winterworks

– Charmaine Quick is Goulburn-Murray Water’s managing director.

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