The state government has applied for funding to assist in the development of a third tranche of irrigation projects in Tasmania.
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There are 10 projects listed under Tasmanian Irrigation’s plan at an estimated collective cost of $496 million.
The government has set aside $70 million to fund the schemes.
Primary Industries Minister Sarah Courtney said the schemes were expected to deliver an additional 78,000 megalitres of water to farmers and benefit the agricultural industry by $114 million each year.
The funding application has been made to Infrastructure Australia through its National Infrastructure Priority list which is due to be released early next year.
The farming districts of the Southern Midlands, Detention, Don, Fingal, Flowerdale, Harcus, Northern Midlands, Sassafras and Wesley Vale, South East, and Tamar have been identified as areas in which to place new irrigation schemes or upgrade existing ones.
Some projects would also involve improved interconnectivity between irrigation schemes for greater water trading and more efficient use of unused or underused water capacity.
Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association chief executive Peter Skillern said the development of a third phase of irrigation schemes would be vital infrastructure for the state’s agricultural sector.
“The state’s irrigation schemes continue to be one of the key drivers of sustainable growth in our export and domestic agricultural produce markets and this will extend the opportunities into new areas of the state,” he said.
Fifteen irrigation schemes exist in Tasmania.
The 2018 Infrastructure Priority List detailed projects worth $55 billion.