The Tasmanian and Federal Governments will invest $170 million in irrigation infrastructure to support Tasmanian farming businesses and communities.
Minister for Water, Guy Barnett, said he was proud to announce the preferred design option for the Don Irrigation Scheme.
“This will deliver up to 5,000ML of irrigation water at 95 per cent reliability to high-quality agricultural land in the Don, Barrington and Sheffield areas in the north-west,” Mr Barnett said.
“The estimated $28.5 million project will provide reliable irrigation water that will enable farmers to diversify, value add and expand their existing farming operations, driving the farm gate value of Tasmania’s agricultural sector towards the government’s target of $10 billion a year by 2050.”
Once fully operational, the Don Irrigation scheme is expected to deliver 130 direct and indirect jobs.
“When completed, the proposed ten irrigation schemes in the Pipeline to Prosperity are expected to provide almost 78,000ML of water, create up to 2,600 full-time jobs, trigger an additional $150 million in on-farm private investment and inject an estimated $114 million each year into the sector, and economy more broadly,” Mr Barnett said.
The Don Irrigation scheme is the first of ten Tranche Three irrigation projects to progress through the planning and approval process.
