Water supply to all RIT customers between Cucumunga Street and Twentyeighth Street (refer to map) will cease from 9.00am Wednesday 12 May 2021 until Midnight Thursday 13 May 2021 for staff to undertake emergency infrastructure repairs.
This shutdown is in relation to the supply disruption affecting the Crescent area. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by these unexpected circumstances.
The Trust is pleased to notify our Member and stakeholder base that Renmark Irrigation Trust is undertaking its Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) recertification audit on Tuesday 6 April 2021. This occurs every three years and is part of the Trust’s certification requirements under the AWS International Standard.
The latest version of the Trust’s Water Stewardship Plan, adopted by the Trust Board at the recent Trust Board Meeting on Monday 29 March is available on the Trust website here. This ever-evolving document helps collate information relevant to water stewardship and reflects a number of Trust activities to date. It is also intended to help guide the Trust’s activities in certain water related areas.
As a valued stakeholder/partner of the Trust, the Trust wishes to both notify you that we are excited to complete our recertification audit and (hopefully!) maintain our platinum certification, the highest certification level under the AWS Standard, as well as invite you to provide any thoughts/comments on the Trust’s performance as a water steward of the local area to date.
Please feel free to contact James John via email on jjohn@rit.org.au or on (08) 8586 6911 with any queries on the Trust’s Water Stewardship plan or activities.
Please see the below invitation from the MDBA/DEW for an upcoming information session, specifically tailored for Renmark Irrigation Trust Members – Please RSVP to the Trust Office by calling (08) 8586 6911 or by emailing office@rit.org.au:
Invitation to Members for information session 3pm, Thursday 25 February at the Renmark Hotel – Managing Deliverability Risks in the River Murray System (RSVP requested)If you have pondered about the impact of such things as the Barmah choke restriction and irrigation expansion on our water security, this is an opportunity to hear from people who have been on a fact finding mission. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and the South Australian Department for Environment and Water (DEW) invites you to an engagement session at the Renmark Hotel on Thursday 25 February 2021 from 3.00pm – 5.00pm on the recently released ‘Managing Deliverability Risks in the River Murray System’ paper.
Delivering water in the River Murray system has always been challenging due to the long distances between key water storages and major extraction points. River operators rely on weather forecasts and an extensive network of infrastructure. It takes around four weeks to deliver water from Hume Dam to the South Australian border and conditions can change quickly. A “delivery shortfall” event may occur when demands for water exceed those anticipated when releases were made from upstream storages several weeks earlier, and there is insufficient water in transit to meet all demands. The risk of a delivery shortfall is greater during summer when spikes in temperature may result in a sudden increase in river losses and irrigation demands. Over the past fifteen years, there has been growing concern within communities and governments that, over time, the risk of a delivery shortfall has increased. This issue is being talked about more and more and there is widespread concern and uncertainty. For this reason, the MDBA commissioned a series of investigations to better understand the shortfall risk. The Delivery Risks paper summarises and brings together the broad range of studies. It also presents objectives and principles to guide changes required and sets out actions to establish a functional delivery framework. It proposes exploring long-term options for restoring delivery capacity in the lower Murray system – to understand effectiveness, costs, impacts and beneficiaries.
The session will be an opportunity to:
• receive an overview of the key drivers of shortfall risk and recap on the land and water use changes over the past 25 years
• discuss the actions being taken by governments to develop a more robust delivery framework, including shortfall response planning
• learn about the potential SA response should a delivery shortfall occur
• talk about the long-term measures being explored for increasing delivery capacity
• ask questions and contribute your perspective, and
• explore how we can work together to effectively manage and mitigate risks in the River Murray system.
Venue: Renmark Hotel 3.00pm – 5.00pm
Industry Members
Group Presenters:
• Dr Joseph Davis – MDBA, Senior Director River Modernisation
• Dr Ben Dyer – MDBA, Director System Review
• Dr Theresa Heneker – SA DEW, Principal Policy Officer, Basin Plan Strategy and Implementation
For COVID management purposes, please RSVP to RIT (8586 6911 or office@rit.org.au) by close of business Monday 22 February 2021.
Please be advised that water supply has now resumed in the area bordered by Ontario, Kulkyne, Chino and Chowilla Streets and 60 Foot Road.
Please see following information from Riverland Wine regarding two upcoming briefing sessions to be held this Thursday, 7 January. Please share this information within your networks where relevant:
Due to the fruit fly outbreak, winegrape properties within prescribed zones will have protocols applied to movements of winegrapes to wineries as soon as harvest commences. The period of restricted movements will apply until late March 2021, covering much of the forthcoming harvest period.Two briefing sessions for winegrape growers and wineries to explain protocols and paperwork will be convened at Barmera and Renmark.
• Barmera Football Club: Thursday, January 7 at 9:30am
• Renmark Hotel Function Room: Thursday, January 7 at 1:30pm
The following important information has been provided by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) – please share this information with any growers or industry participants in your network that may be affected by the fruit fly outbreak:
“A fruit fly outbreak grower and industry information meeting will be held in the Function Room of the Renmark Hotel on Monday 4 January 2021, at 11am.
The meeting will provide information on the outbreak operation and what has been done to date, activities going forward, and most importantly – market access.
PIRSA staff will be presenting and assist in addressing the many issues around market access.All growers and affected industries are strongly urged to attend.”
The University of Adelaide is conducting a survey of the members of Renmark Irrigation Trust and would be very grateful if you could spare 10 to 15 minutes to complete an online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LLVBGW8
This project is examining how farmers are adjusting to the risks posed by economic fluctuations, changing markets, government policies and environmental issues (e.g. pests, diseases, severe weather, bushfires). The University is interested in how risk is being reduced by diversifying into new types of crop/production systems or through diversifying into value-added processing, direct sales, on-farm tourism and generating more income off-farm or by specialising in existing crops.
The University of Adelaide has designed a questionnaire survey which can be completed either online or in hard-copy – the University hopes to interview a small number of farmers to obtain more detailed insights.
This research is intended to benefit the farming community. Chief benefits to growers will be the researchers’ analysis of risks and farmers’ responses to risk, information about trends in the industry in the local region, and the changing nature of the local rural economy, which may help identify opportunities for future business direction and targeting of future policy support for the industry.
All respondents will receive a summary of the research results and copies of all publications produced from the research.
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Jody Swirepik and her office staff were delighted to gain access to the RIT irrigators telemetric readings through WaterNow to monitor the environmental Class 3 water allocation use within the Trust. Just like our other members, Jody needs to ensure her RIT water account is in balance and that the irrigation is going according to plan. The only difference is that the water is applied to support native birds, frogs and plants and to improve the health of the floodplains in our community.
Due to unforeseen essential repairs water supply will be disrupted for residents on 28th street, parts of 27th street and Bookmark Avenue from 9pm Monday 19th Oct to Tuesday 20th Oct approx. 2pm.
Are you committed to a sustainable future of the Renmark community with its diverse, high value food production? Do you desire a balanced approach to the Murray Darling Basin that protects our national asset and supports our businesses and community? Do you possess strategic and critical thinking skills? Are you willing to serve your community? If you have answered “yes”, or you know of another member who would answer “yes”, the Trust is eager to hear from you as part of the process of appointing a Director to the current casual vacancy on the Board. Please forward a short email to Rosalie our General Manager at rauricht@rit.org.au stating why you would be interested in becoming a Director of the Trust or alternatively, contact the office on 85866911. The Trust is committed to maintaining Board diversity to reflect our diverse community.