Guy Barnett, Minister for Primary Industries and Water,
The Tasmanian Liberal Government continues to invest in irrigation and water surety to support the State's booming agriculture sector.
The Sassafras Wesley Vale Irrigation Scheme Augmentation will more than double the amount of high-surety irrigation water delivered to farmers in the productive North-West Tasmanian region.
The Government today joined local farmers and Tasmanian Irrigation to launch the Preferred Option Design for this important Tranche Three irrigation project.
This project will more than double the capacity of the scheme, create an estimated 120 jobs and underpin $28.3 million in on-farm investment.
The Tasmanian Government has committed $18.34 million, the Australian Government $30.57 million and landowners $13.81 million to refurbish existing infrastructure and construct additional pipelines and pump stations to increase the capacity of the scheme from 5,660 to 13,686 megalitres.
Expected to be operational for the 2025/26 irrigation season, this water will enable farmers to invest, diversify, expand and value add, as well as provide much-needed guarantees for crop contracts and on-farm investment leverage.
The Preferred Option Design follows a similar alignment to the existing scheme and includes 95km of new and refurbished pipeline, five pump stations and the replacement of 70 property outlets. Water will be sourced at the Great Bend pump station on the Mersey River and backed up by releases from Parangana Dam.
This project is one of 10 Tranche Three irrigation schemes being developed by Tasmanian Irrigation which play a vital role in assisting the Tasmanian Government reach its target of increasing the farm gate value of the State's agricultural sector to $10 billion a year by 2050.
