Operations Quarterly Report

By Michael Holmes, Manager Engineering and Asset Intelligence; Devira Jayasekara, Acting Manager Water Delivery and Asset Performance; and Josh Clark, Manager Dam Safety, Environment and Water Security

Near record quantities of water are continuing to be delivered by Tasmanian Irrigation to farmers around the State.

The ongoing dry conditions, low relative soil moisture levels and above average temperatures through summer and early autumn resulted in high levels of demand for high surety irrigation water across the east, south east and Midlands areas.

Tasmanian Irrigation delivered 96,823 megalitres (ML) of water to the end of May 2026, compared to 90,148 ML to the end of May last year and 97,730 ML for the same period in the previous record-breaking year.

In May, Tasmanian Irrigation delivered 5,639 ML, the highest May volume ever delivered, and 32 per cent higher than May 2025 when 4,272 ML was delivered. 3,055 ML was supplied in May 2024. This follows the all-time monthly delivery record of 24,349 ML in January this year – 32 per cent more than January 2025 and double the amount supplied in January 2024.

On a scheme-by-scheme basis, there were many schemes where record quantities of water were delivered this season. These included the South East Stage One, Don, Midlands, Swan and Whitemore schemes.

The closing date on almost half of Tasmanian Irrigation’s schemes was extended, ensuring farmers could access much-needed irrigation water to finish last crops and maintain pasture productivity.

Read how critical the extension to the Lower South Esk Irrigation Scheme was for Nile farmer Hugh Bradley Irrigator Interview- Hugh Bradley - Tasmanian Irrigation.

Our ability to be flexible to the needs of our farmers is evidence of the commitment of our team and the resilience of our assets. Our Scheme Operators have again gone above and beyond to ensure our customers continue to receive irrigation water where and when they need it.

While demand for water was high, we have more capacity in all our schemes.  The scheme utilisation graph below details the amount of water delivered for each scheme, the amount of available water not utilised and the water still available to purchase on four schemes. The chart shows that we need to collaborate more with irrigators to ensure that all available water is used within the seasonal limits.

Maintenance has been planned for our Midlands and Scottsdale power stations in June, along with a dam intake screen replacement at Floods Creek Dam.

High voltage asset maintenance is scheduled for July, covering Midlands, Scottsdale and Meander scheme assets. Further pump refurbishments are also planned for the Duck and Midlands schemes.

Looking forward, we are expecting ongoing elevated demand for irrigation water in the spring shoulder periods, reflecting the forecast outlook of a 40 per cent or lower probability for eastern Tasmania exceeding median rainfall during the June to August period. During a statewide rainfall event in the last week of May, we took the opportunity to harvest water from rivers into storages across multiple schemes, including Southern Highlands, Lower South Esk, Swan and the North Esk. Early season harvesting like this helps us begin building storage levels over winter, positioning us well for the next summer irrigation season. With long-range forecasts pointing to drier-than-average conditions ahead, making the most of rainfall events like this is more important than ever.

Tasmanian Irrigation will continue to monitor dam levels around the State as catchment recovery and storage inflows may remain below normal on some schemes due to the continued dry conditions. It may be necessary to cease delivery of General Availability water on some schemes to help ensure water availability for the next season.

At the end of May, nine of Tasmanian Irrigation’s 22 dams on operational schemes were below 50 per cent of capacity.

The Liffey Holding Dam, Rekuna Dam, Headquarters Road Dam and Rileys Creek Dam were above 80 per cent of capacity.

Tasmanian Irrigation updates dam levels on its website every day. You can access the data here: Dam Dashboard - Tasmanian Irrigation.