The Werribee Irrigation District is a major agricultural area, located in Werribee, Victoria, approximately 30–40 km southwest of Melbourne.
It is one of the state’s key food-producing regions, particularly known for growing vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery.
The district covers about 3,000 hectares of farmland, with farming business supplying fresh produce to Melbourne’s markets and supermarkets.
The district primarily sources water from the Werribee River, Pykes Creek Reservoir, and Melton Reservoir, with some use of recycled water from the Western Treatment Plant.

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Electrical Conductivity (salinity) Werribee River
Electrical conductivity (ec) is measured in microsiemens per centimeter (µS/cm)
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Modernisation
The Werribee Irrigation District modernisation project began in 2016 and was completed in 2024,
The $42 million project was delivered in five stages and replaced the region’s ageing and inefficient channel irrigation network with over 39 kilometres of new modern pipeline and 208 automated customer outlets.
Stages 1 to 3 were completed in 2019 and delivered 23 kilometres of pipeline and 138 upgraded customer outlets.
Stage 4 was completed in December 2023 and involved construction of 7.9 kilometres of pipeline in the vicinity of Hoppers Lane south to Aviation Road, and an additional 340 meters of pipeline adjacent to Aviation Road.
Stage 5 was completed in October 2024 and delivered 8.3 kilometres of new pipeline and a new regulator inside the Tarneit Street irrigation channel.
Seventy customer outlets were automated as part of Stage 4 and Stage 5 works that has enabled more reliable water delivery, better service to customers, and more accurate meter reads.
Modernisation in Werribee has generated approximately 5,000 megalitres of water savings across all five stages. This will be used to enhance local irrigation and the health of the Werribee River.
This once-in-a-generation infrastructure investment has been vital in future-proofing the district supporting farmers to be more climate resilient and enabling them to continue to produce food in a hotter, drier future. .
Werribee Irrigation District modernisation was jointly funded by Southern Rural Water, the Victorian Government and the Australian Government through the National Water Grid Fund.
Related pages
Click on these related pages to discover more about our Modernisation project, find related application forms and the current WID Allocations.