Storage Manager

Last Updated: 18 February 2018

Wimmera Mallee Pipeline

The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project is the best thing for 100 years!

The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project is the largest water infrastructure project in Australia, replacing 17,500 kilometres of inefficient earthen channel with 9,159 kilometres of pressurised pipeline and associated structures.

Construction of this great engineering feat commenced in November 2006 with the last pipe being laid in April 2010 - well ahead of the 10 year timeframe originally proposed and within the $688 million project budget.

The pipeline will save on average 103 billion litres of water a year and provide a continuous water supply to approximately 9,000 farms and 34 townships across the Wimmera and Mallee.

Thursday 15 April, 2010 saw the Horsham Soundshell come alive with celebrations for the official opening of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline.

The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project was officially opened by then Premier of Victoria, John Brumby and the Minister for Water, Tim Holding, on 15 April 2010.

Federal and State parlimentarians joined GWMWater's then Chairman Barry Clugston to lower the ‘Piping It’ flag and raise the ‘Piped It’ flag with a crowd of more than 1,100 interested community members cheering them on. The flag ceremony symbolised the completion of all pipes laid and officially opened the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline.

Thanks to the pipeline project, made possible by project partners including the Australian and Victorian governments, 36 towns and our 7,000 rural customers are now receiving a high quality and reliable water supply.

Water restriction levels for these customers were eased from Stage 4 to Stage 1 in October 2009 and subsequently moved to Permanent Water Saving Rules in October 2010 as a result of the improved water security that the project has delivered.

Status update and link to Supply System maps

No Water - No Life

'No Water No Life' a historic look at our headworks system researched and written by Bob McIlvena 

Series reproduced with the kind permission of the Wimmera Mail Times

GWMWater accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in the series, please click here to view the series

Channels

The Wimmera Mallee open earthen channel system ran from the Grampians ranges south of Horsham, north beyond Ouyen, and east to the Murray River. Historically the 17,500 kilometre channel system annually supplied water to 36 towns and filled 22,000 farm dams across the region.

High levels of evaporation and seepage from the channel system were key motivators for the regional push for a piped supply system, which led to the construction of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project. This $688 million project saw the channel system replaced by a 9,159 kilometre piped water supply system in early 2010. 

Channel decommissioning

With the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline system in operation, channel decommissioning has been undertaken around our region and completed in 2014. Many smaller channels and structures remain, which were unable to be decommissioned within the project budget. Where some channels may provide a drainage function, ownership and management responsibility will be transferred by Deed to the landowner or appropriate entity.