Farm Water Management Planning

The Farm Water Management Planning project is reducing the impact of drought by supporting farmers to prepare and implement farm water management plans.

These plans determine water needs (stock and domestic) and the capacity to meet these needs (dam, tank, bore). Farmers will then implement proven on-farm actions to ensure they have adequate water in the right places across the farm (via storage and reticulation).

By managing water, drought impacts on livestock, productive pastures, soil, and natural assets, will be minimised. Production, during and recovery after drought will be improved.

Farm water management plans will be developed at workshops and a one-on-one follow-up session to finalise them. Field days at 10 demonstration sites established across the Southern NSW region provide clear examples of design options and evidence of the benefits of implementing farm water management plans.

Read the impact case study

Project lead

Murray Local Land Services (LLS)

Project partners

The Farm Water Management Planning project is a collaborative partnership through Murray Local Land Services, and farmer and industry organisations across the Murray, Riverina and South East Local Land Services regions, including:

This project is also supported by Southern Growers and Irrigation Farmers Network.

Farm Water Management Planning resources

Template Farm Water Management Plan - Develop your own Farm Water Management Plan
Example Farm Water Management Plan (East) - An example Plan for high rainfall (>600mm p/a) zones
Example Farm Water Management Plan (West) - An example Plan for lower rainfall (<500mm p/a) zones
Summer water calculator - Keep a check on water levels in your dams and tanks and estimate how long water for stock will last (source: Agriculture Victoria)
DamDeep - Videos to help you with measuring the depth of your dam, dam maintenance, and a guide to using DamDeep (source: Agriculture Victoria)
Best practice guides for farm dams (source: ANU Sustainable Farms)
Farm water audit how-to workbook and webinars (source: Holbrook Landcare)
Managing water on your farm - A series of short videos to ensure you can manage water on your farm, no matter the conditions (source: Local Land Services)

Project funding

The Farm Water Management Planning project is funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund through an Extension and Adoption of Drought Resilience Farming Practices Grant.

Banner image credit: Fenced dam at Bowna, NSW with a cow at the access point by Dave Smith, Sustainable Farms, Australian National University. Fencing out dams significantly improves water quality and prevents stock entrapment.