The season in the Macalister Irrigation District starts on Friday, 15 August and we’re looking forward to another productive one here and in our irrigation districts in Werribee and Bacchus Marsh.
In the east, storage levels are healthy; with Lake Glenmaggie 79 percent full and the current 2025-26 seasonal allocation is 95 percent for High Reliability Water Shares – which gets reviewed each fortnight during the season. Our major storages in the west are over 60 percent full. We will continue to keep Melton Reservoir low and hold water in our storages higher up the catchment to reduce the effect of evaporation on water supply.
In the Macalister Irrigation District, we have started filling the irrigation channels to prepare for opening day. Stock and domestic water will be available to customers on the network as the channels and pipelines fill over the coming seven to 10 days.
Customers can place water orders from Friday, 8 August, with deliveries to follow from Friday, 15 August onwards. So, if you know what you need now you can use Waterline now to place your order.
We’ve used the winter shut down period to deliver key upgrades and maintenance across our irrigation districts to ensure a smooth and reliable start to the irrigation season.
We’ve automated 15 customer outlets, replacing manual Dethridge wheels with modern slip meters. These works mark the final upgrades under Phase 2 of the Macalister modernisation project, which has delivered $62.6 million in improvements since 2020, including 80 outlet upgrades completed last winter.
Slip meters allow customers to order water at any time, with outlets opening and closing automatically, making the system easier and more responsive for our customers.
We’ve also upgraded eight regulators at four key sites along the Main Northern Channel and Valencia Creek Channel Offtake in the Macalister Irrigation District.
The regulator upgrades will help us manage water flow more accurately, reduce delays, and keep the system running smoothly. They are part of a larger, multi-year investment to strengthen critical infrastructure across the district. From 2025 to 2027, we’ll continue this work during our scheduled winter works irrigation shutdown replacing more flume gates, pedestals, and regulator structures.
This winter, we started the Tunnel 5 replacement project that will be completed in two phases. We’ve replaced 140 metres of the downstream section with modern piping and will replace the remaining 80 metres of the upstream section during our 2026 winter shutdown period.
We also completed 40 kilometres of weed control, repaired pipes and headwalls, improved access tracks, fixed flow gates, tackled erosion, and upgraded walkways on key assets throughout the district.
In the Werribee Irrigation District, we installed two new flow meters with solar panels to power them at both sites on the Main and Spur 4/1 pipelines.
Flow meters are essential to enable us to have a fully automated irrigation system that will enable quicker, easier ordering and more efficient water delivery for our customers. The works were completed ahead of schedule during the two-week winter shutdown period with no impacts to customers.
The winter roster ceases at the beginning of September and providing there is enough demand, water supply will be available to irrigators in the Werribee Irrigation District from Monday to Friday during the season.
We’d like thank customers, landholders, staff and contractors for working in partnership with us to deliver a safe and successful winter works program.