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Water Use in Dairies

Photograph of dairy cows in a fieldAs Victorian water supplies are becoming increasingly limited and variable, DPI has developed a special booklet designed to help farmers calculate their water use for each of the main processes undertaken in a dairy shed.

The booklet entitled Dairy Shed Water - How Much do You Use? also provides information from more than 1,500 farmers visited by DPI dairy extension staff over the past 10 years.

Information from the booklet will help farmers to:

  • have a greater understanding and appreciation of the amount of water used on their farms
  • identify the scope of water savings and encourage greater water use efficiency in the dairy
  • provide a more accurate figure to a water corporation to update an existing licence or to apply for a new water licence; and/or
  • work out the volume of water needed for purchase if the farm is in a capped catchment

Dairy shed water use statistics refered to in the booklet come from the DPI publication Dairy Shed Water Use in Victoria 2009 Analysis previously referred to as Callinan, L. (2009). Water use in Victorian dairy sheds.

There is also an information note that provides a summary on Measuring water use in the dairy.

For more information about these publications please contact the DPI Customer Service Centre on 136 186.

Licences are required for dairy shed water use

In Victoria, water for commercial use is regulated by water corporations on behalf of the Minister for Water to ensure the sustainable use of the resource.

Water corporations issue licences to ensure the amount of water taken from streams, rivers, bores, dams and channels is sustainable.

Although the legislation does not currently require water taken from these sources for ‘stock and domestic’ use to be licensed, all other agricultural uses of water in Victoria, including water for use in dairy sheds, require a licence.

This means:

  • all operating dairies require a licence to take and use water
  • the volume allocated for dairy shed use in Section 51 licences must reflect actual use; and
  • water used in the dairy shed will be metered in line with existing Government and water corporation policy

Program to licence water used in the dairy shed

The Department of Sustainability and Environment is running the Dairy Shed Water Licence Transition Program to make sure all water used in dairy sheds throughout Victoria is fully licensed.

The program includes an amnesty, ending on 23 April 2010. After that, it will be expected that all water used in dairy sheds is fully licensed.

By early October 2009, all dairy farmers registered with Dairy Food Safety Victoria should have received an information pack about the program, including a brochure, a licence application form and a copy of the Dairy shed water – How much do you use? booklet (DPI 2009).

For more information and case studies on Farm Water Management for Dairy please visit Dairy Extension Centre - Farm Water Management

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Contacts

Contact your water corporation for information about licensing fees:

Goulburn-Murray Water:
www.g-mwater.com.au;
1800 013 357 (toll free) or (03) 5833 5500

Grampians-Wimmera-Mallee Water:
www.gwmwater.org.au
1300 659 961

Lower Murray Water:
www.lmw.vic.gov.au
(03) 5051 3400

Melbourne Water
www.melbournewater.com.au
131 722

Southern Rural Water
www.srw.com.au
1300 139 510