Forms
Historical Rain Chart
Water Services
Buy Water
Sell Water
Trade Water
Winnaleah Irrigation Scheme Limited
Tasmanian Irrigation Pty Ltd being the responsible water entity of the Winnaleah Irrigation District in conjunction with Winnaleah Irrigation Scheme Limited, advise the following:
The Winnaleah Irrigation scheme limited – Stock and Domestic Supply
The Winnaleah Irrigation Scheme
In 1972 the Tasmanian Government agreed to make the water of the disused Cascade Dam (built in 1934) available for irrigation. They agreed to a supportive scheme that would service 60 properties around the Derby/Winnaleah area of North East Tasmania.
The system itself is a gravity fed system using the Cascade Dam as its water source, which is 350 metres above sea level. Its total capacity is 3450 mega litres although the scheme can contain over 5000 mega litres when necessary due to the catchment and run off areas.
Winnaleah plateau is the location of the irrigated water and the soils that make up the plateau mainly contain Kraznozem based, clay loam type, which is ideal for crops and pastures.
The 35km pipeline supplies the agricultural industry consisting of dairy, cropping, beef cattle and piggeries over approximately 4443 hectares. Derby and Herrick plus rural housing also use this water.
Fact File
Recently a hydro power turbine was installed at the schemes pipeline via a “Y” piece at the Ringarooma River. This turbine was built by a private company with the Winnaleah Scheme owning a part entity.
The purpose of this turbine is to create and supply power to the energy grid during the seasons when water will be spilling at the dam. Its hydro-power turbine can produce 1150 kilowatts of power and will use 850 litres of water per second. Due to the expansion of farming on the scheme it has been stretched to full capacity nearly every year since its inception.
Although the Cascade Dam’s capacity is 3450 mega litres (over 5000 mega litres including catchment), each year irrigators can (and often are) cut off from the Cascade Dam’s supply due to lack of water in the catchment. In the 2006-2007 season approximately 98% of irrigators were cut off from Cascade Dam’s irrigation supply. This is why the board has been actively pursuing extra water supply opportunities to ensure a constant supply of water is met.
Cascade Dam as its Water Source
Hydro Power Turbine
Board Of Directors
Chairman: Robin Thompson
Managing Director: Andrew Lester
Directors: Lester Rainbow, Gary Oliver, Gavin Steel, Alex Muirhead, Andrew Lester and Rodney Moore
Secretary: Merilyn Nichols