Barwon Water urges water saving as Geelong farmers face drought

Farmers are being forced to get rid of stock and change crops as dry conditions leave the region’s water storages at six-year lows.

Victorian Farmers Federation Brett Hosking said dry conditions might prevent canola crops in Geelong this year. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Farmers are being forced to get rid of stock and change crops as dry conditions leave the region’s water storages at six-year lows.

The president of Victorian Farmers Federation Brett Hosking said the situation for farmers in the Geelong region was becoming dire, as Barwon Water warned residents to be conscious of water usage.

Mr Hosking said the south west area of Victoria was particularly dry, with many farmers waiting for the Autumn weather change for relief.

“Farmers in south west Victoria have come off a pretty tough season,” Mr Hosking said.

“The break comes around mid-May in Victoria, which will be very late for a lot of farmers who are already very low on water, particularly stock water.

“They’re keeping a very close eye on the weather at the moment.”

Mr Hosking said farmers in Geelong were waiting for May. Picture: Rob Leeson.

He said one of the main problems facing farmers was the reliance on naturally occurring run-off to fill dams.

“We’re hearing stories of paddocks where dams are empty, so effectively, they’ve had to reduce their stock numbers according to what water they do have,” Mr Hosking said.

“It’s impacting cattle farmers the most, particularly dairy farmers, because cattle are such big consumers of water.

“Cattle are the first signs, then we’re starting to see it flow onto other livestock producers, like sheep producers.”

It’s not just livestock farmers impacted, the lack of water is expected to reduce the diversity of crops in the region, with farmers likely to favour yields which require less water.

Mr Hosking said some dams in the region were dry. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

“We’re hearing from cropping guys in the west that they’re pulling back on some of their crops,” Mr Hosking said.

“(Instead of) canola, which requires lots of water, they’re opting to go for stuff like wheat and barley.”

Barwon Water data found Geelong’s water stores entered March at a six-year low, while storages in Colac and Apollo Bay hit the lowest levels recorded since 2016.

Barwon Water managing director Shaun Cumming encouraged people to save water where possible after an “extremely dry period”.

“While our ongoing investments in alternative water sources and water efficiency initiatives are increasing the resilience of our system, we’d like customers to consider how they could use water wisely,” Mr Cumming said.

After 10 of the last 12 months seeing below average rainfall in parts of the region, Geelong’s storages, contained in six reservoirs along the upper Barwon and Moorabool rivers, have fallen below half full.

They entered March at 47 per cent, about 28 percentage points lower than at the same time last year.

In Apollo Bay, storages fell to under 50 per cent capacity, having last year ended February at 99.5 per cent full.

The beach side town has just experienced its third driest summer in the last 50 years.

Originally published as Barwon Water urges water saving as Geelong farmers face drought