Victoria Connections Package

Project overview

Water infrastructure projects under the Victoria Connections Package include a new recycled water pipeline and upgrades to existing channels. These projects will deliver water savings and help support the agricultural industry during drought conditions.

Collectively, these benefits will contribute to delivering secure, affordable and reliable water for rural and regional Australia.

Victoria water infrastructure projects under the Connections pathway include:

• Kyneton Recycled Water Irrigation project – project completed.
  • A 14 km recycled water pipeline has been constructed, providing up to 300 megalitres (ML) per year of recycled water to irrigate 60 hectares of previously dry farmland.         
• Gisborne to Sunbury Recycled Water Interconnector: Stage 1 –  project completed
  • The first stage of a two-stage interconnection for the Gisborne and Sunbury recycled water schemes. Stage One has constructed a 3.8 km transfer pipeline into the existing Sunbury recycled water scheme seeing water use of 200 ML per year for irrigation. 
• Horsham Agriculture SmartWater for Grains project – project completed
  • Municipal wastewater will be converted into high quality irrigation water. This will help to secure and expand vital agricultural research and innovation. In doing so, enhancing the water security of agriculture and irrigation of public green spaces in the Horsham region.
• Victoria’s Emergency Water Supply Point Network
  • Emergency Water Supply Points will be either constructed, repaired, or upgraded. This will support the agricultural industry during drought conditions and other emergency periods. Several supply points are already completed with the remainder to be operational by late 2023.
• Bacchus Marsh Resilience and Critical Infrastructure – project completed
  • Channels will be upgraded with new pipelines providing improved water security and water saving of up to 100 ML per year.
• Macalister Resilience and Critical Infrastructure – project completed
  • Pipes will be upgraded to transfer water between channels. A more resilient delivery system for up to 80% of Macalister Irrigation District customers will be the end result.
• Sunday Creek Irrigation and Reconfiguration project
  • The Sunday Creek Irrigation Scheme will be reconfigured, with a new pipeline to directly supply water from the Murray River to the creek. This will improve water security for irrigators and enable recovery of an estimated 668 ML of system losses per year from Lake Moodemere.
• Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District Channel Embankment Infrastructure Improvement project – project completed
  • Up to 50 km of the existing channel system will be upgraded across the Goulburn-Murray Water Irrigation Supply District. This will provide a reliable irrigation supply to 11,000 irrigators. 
• Critical Headworks Infrastructure for the Modernised Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District
  • Headworks infrastructure is being upgraded to support improvements to the delivery of highly reliable water to northern Victoria irrigators.

Collectively, these projects are expected to deliver:

• up to 100 jobs during construction and more than 125 ongoing jobs
• 900 ML additional storage capacity
•  an extra 1700 ML of water availability each year
• 10 new customers or properties connected to a water supply
• 13,000 existing customers to benefit from improved water outcomes
• 664 hectares of additional irrigable land.