Rationing was introduced to the districts on March 5 on the back of high demand and dry weather conditions.
Other irrigators in the Picola and Katunga areas have been warned they might also be limited, but to date the system has been able to cope with demand.
Farmers in the Boort area have told Country News they have had to cope with reduced water for pastures and crops due to rationing.
Boort farmer Tyler Nelson expressed a common frustration: “We own the water in the storages but we just can’t access it”.
“The planners have been trying their best to assist in the circumstances. But there are some bigger questions to be answered,” Mr Nelson said.
Prairie farmer Bill Diss, who has a mixed grazing and cropping enterprise, said the rationing had reduced water available for annual pastures.
“The ewes will be lambing soon and we won’t have as much green feed for them as we would like,” he said.
Mr Diss said the rationing was another complication they did not need.
He said the region had had very little rain this calendar year.
Following criticism of proposed rationing, G-MW has waived the application fee for varying or transferring delivery shares for affected customers.
“Entering a rationing cycle within the Dingee, Calivil and Boort areas has helped ensure all irrigators still have access to water and reduced the delays irrigators were facing in receiving their orders,” G-MW incident controller Andrew Shields said.
“Rationing will remain in place for these areas until there is a significant drop in irrigation demand.
“When this happens will likely be highly dependent on weather conditions.”
Mr Shields said G-MW was continuing to monitor water orders within other parts of its network and will update customers if there are any changes to the situation.
“We understand this is a challenging time for customers and appreciate their patience,” he said.
G-MW revised the rationing percentage of delivery share from 150 per cent to 120 per cent for the Boort, Dingee, and Calivil irrigators on March 5 due to ongoing dry conditions and increasing irrigation demand.
Any orders that irrigators placed before this date that were scheduled to finish before March 15, were unaffected by the adjustment.
Adjusting the percentage of delivery share percentage has helped G-MW maintain reliable service and reduced further potential delays in customers receiving their orders.
G-MW’s automated system means there are few ways for people to take more than they are entitled to.
