West Vic farmers urged to monitor dams ahead of drier-than-average spring forecast

West Vic farmers are being advised to keep a close eye on dam levels as the state heads into what is forecast to be a drier-than-average spring.

Watch your water: Agriculture Victoria’s Clem Sturmfels said patchy rainfall across the state and ongoing concerns about stock water supplies made now an ideal time for farmers to begin monitoring their dams and planning.

On the ground: Jamie Pepper's sheep and beef farm, west of Hamilton, hosts roughly 20 dams. He told the Brolga he’s already thinking ahead for the possibility that runoff may not arrive in the remaining winter months.

🗣️ "I'm on high alert, because I know what we've gone through the last two years, so my plan is to get through July," Pepper said.

🗣️ "If we've had a drier-than-average July, or not enough rain to get any overland flow happening, my plan then probably starting in August is to just start artificially filling some dams."

Prepping for a dry summer: Pepper said he would pump water from permanent springs on his property into dams if significant runoff failed to materialise before the end of next month.

• Sturmfels said taking stock of dam water levels and pasture growth over coming months could help producers calculate their property's water carrying capacity and make informed decisions before conditions deteriorated.

12-month improvement: While Pepper remains cautious, he said conditions were considerably better this winter.

🗣️ "We're so far ahead of this time last year in terms of rainfall and grass growth," he said.

🗣️ "The ground is full of water from the rain that we've had, so basically any rain from now on should turn into runoff, but we just haven't got it."

Soil moisture: Pepper said sheep were requiring less water than they did during last year's dry conditions because of the abundance of pasture.

🗣️ "The water requirements for our sheep have gone right down because they're getting enough water naturally through the grass, and that's the big difference between this year and last year, where we had no lush green grass," he said.

How to track water: Agriculture Victoria is encouraging farmers to establish simple water level markers in larger dams to track changes over time.

• A permanent marker can be made using a galvanised steel post fitted with a PVC pipe marked at 10-centimetre intervals, allowing producers to monitor levels and record changes with date-stamped photographs.

Pepper said his own monitoring method was less technical.

🗣️ "I'm just assessing if it's at a bogging sort of stage, and if it is, I just move the sheep or the cows out," he said.

Header image: Jamie Pepper