CEO’s Quarterly Update
By Mike Sylvester, Chief Executive Officer

After eight months in this role, I have quickly learned how much work is required behind the scenes for our project development work, as well as to deliver up to 156,000 megalitres of water from our 19 operational schemes to our customers.

A huge thank you to our dedicated Tasmanian Irrigation team, our contractors and all stakeholders who continue to support our business, recognising the direct relationship between the increasing capacity of Tasmanian Irrigation water and the growth in value of our State’s farming sector.

All our schemes are now operating at 100 per cent allocation, giving farmers peace of mind regarding having the water when and where they need it for their crops and livestock.

Sixteen of our 23 dams remain at 80 to 100 per cent of capacity.

Significant progress has been achieved across our new irrigation projects. More than 105km of pipeline is now complete on the $217.9 million Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme. We are about to announce the successful tenderer for the $124.2 million augmentation of the Sassafras Wesley Vale Irrigation Scheme. The Tasmanian Government is expected to provide feedback this month on the preliminary business case for the Tamar Water Scheme. And recruitment for four new positions on the $301 million Greater South East Irrigation Scheme is about to be launched, ensuring work will continue to ramp up on this important project – the largest undertaken in the State.

In a bid to continue to improve the business environment and to ensure our agricultural industries are best placed to achieve the Tasmanian Government’s vision to grow the farmgate value of our agricultural sector to $10 billion a year by 2050, Tasmanian Irrigation has just prepared a submission as part of the development of a new Tasmanian Agricultural Strategy.

Our paper focuses on the need for reliable water infrastructure; climate resilience and risk management; policy and regulatory reform; innovation and digital transformation; and Hydro water pricing and tariff reform.

Key actions put forward include prioritising investment in future irrigation infrastructure (both new schemes and augmentations of existing schemes where customer demand continues to grow); reduction in multiple layer duplication for project assessments and approvals; increased adoption of telemetry and predictive modelling for water resources; development of new farmer-facing digital tools for irrigation scheduling and water forecasting; and investment in additional solar arrays on pump stations.

This is all about streamlining, innovation, investing in smart technologies, recognising the changing climate, maintaining our commitment to environmental excellence and ensuring we can delivery irrigation water as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

As a State-Owned Company, we commit to ensuring a high level of openness and transparency about our operations. We recently appeared before the Tasmanian Government’s Business Scrutiny Committee, giving Parliamentarians the opportunity to ask questions about our operations.

We also recently tabled our Annual Report, which can be accessed here: tasmanianirrigation.com.au/source-assets/images/Tasmanian-Irrigation-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf.

The Tasmanian Irrigation team is always happy to share information about our delivery of high-surety irrigation water, which is a recognised game changer in terms of adding value to farm businesses, creating jobs, growing our regional towns and enhancing our State’s economy.

I take this opportunity to wish our customers, staff, Board Directors, Shareholder Ministers and all Tasmanians a very Merry Christmas, and a safe and prosperous 2026. We hope you enjoy this edition of Branch Out, as well as supporting our Buy Local Christmas Campaign by ensuring there is endless Tasmanian food and beverages on your festive tables this year.

One of the greatest gifts we can give is supporting our hard-working farmers by purchasing and enjoying their premium produce.