e-News Edition #70 New

Date: 14-Aug-2026

Advertise With Us: Exceptional Value for Members

Looking to put your business in front of the people who matter most in irrigation? Advertising in The Irrigation Journal and The Overflow is one of the best-value ways for members to reach the industry, because a single booking works across every channel we have.

When you advertise with us, your message is amplified across:

Our e-News, reaching more than 6,900 industry subscribers
The Irrigation Australia website and our 8,800-plus LinkedIn following
Member email campaigns and our wider social media channels
QR codes displayed in Western Australian irrigation retail stores
Publuu digital distribution of every edition

The material deadline for the Spring edition of The Irrigation Journal is Friday 21 August, so there is still time to book. Members receive preferential rates, and Irrigation Futures Sponsors have access to a discounted two-edition rate.

Contact the team to book or request the current rate card

Hot Topics

Spring Irrigation Journal: Material Deadline Friday 21 August
Greenscapes + Green Expo: How Irrigation Showed Up in Brisbane
SA River Murray Allocations Reach 100 Per Cent
NSW Coastal Metering: Under Four Months to the 1 December Deadline
One Set of Waterwise Gardening Messages for Western Australia
Moonee Valley: A Racetrack Irrigation System Recycling Close to 90 Per Cent
The Overflow Edition 84 Is Out Now
Productivity Commission Water Reform Final Report Due 4 September
National Biosecurity Week, 24 to 30 August

1. Spring Irrigation Journal: Material Deadline Friday 21 August

The Spring edition of The Irrigation Journal publishes on 7 September, and the deadline for advertising material is Friday 21 August. If you have been meaning to book a placement, this is the week to do it.

The Journal reaches the people who specify, install, maintain and buy irrigation products and services across the country. Every advertisement carries live links, so readers can go straight from the page to your website, product page or contact form, and each booking is promoted through direct member emails, the Irrigation Australia website, the e-News, our social channels, QR codes in Western Australian irrigation retail stores and Publuu digital distribution.

Irrigation Futures Sponsors have access to a discounted two-edition rate that many have not yet used. The Summer edition of The Overflow closes on 20 November, so members planning a Western Australian campaign can lock both editions in at the same time.

Find out more about The Irrigation Journal

2. Greenscapes + Green Expo: How Irrigation Showed Up in Brisbane

Greenscapes + Green Expo ran at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 5 and 6 August, and irrigation had a bigger presence than at any previous edition of the event.

The show introduced a dedicated Irrigation Precinct for the first time, bringing smart irrigation systems, automation and control platforms, monitoring technology, pumps, fittings and water distribution products together in one place rather than scattering them across the floor. For landscape and turf professionals who normally see irrigation as a line item, having the whole category in one aisle made the comparison a great deal easier.

Irrigation Australia’s own workshop, When Water Meets the Ground, ran on the Wednesday afternoon as part of the education program, delivered by our Head Trainer Stuart Alexander. The premise was that good irrigation is about more than sprinklers, valves and controllers: what happens after the water leaves the pipe and meets the ground is what drives soil health, plant performance, water efficiency and the long-term sustainability of a landscape. The session covered irrigation fundamentals, soil-water relationships, common field issues and emerging irrigation technology, and was built for people working across parks, gardens, sports turf and commercial landscapes. Delegates received a Certificate of Attendance.

The session existed because Landscape Queensland asked for it. They approached us in April wanting irrigation represented in the education series, and then promoted the workshop alongside us across their own channels. It is a good example of what a partnership with an adjacent industry body can do for irrigation’s visibility.

We are now deciding where irrigation shows up next, and we want that call to come from members rather than from us. Two questions: would you like to see Irrigation Australia at more expos and trade shows, and if so which ones? And would you like to know more about the workshop, whether that is attending the next public session or having it delivered for your own team? Register your interest and tell us which events matter to your business. It takes a minute and it directly shapes where we take the program in 2027.

3. SA River Murray Allocations Reach 100 Per Cent

South Australian River Murray irrigators are now on a full 100 per cent allocation for 2026-27, up from the 92 per cent we reported in Edition 69. The Department for Environment and Water confirmed the increase on 15 July.

This is the third and final increase since the projected minimum opening allocation of 62 per cent was announced on 15 April under the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s worst case water availability scenario. Moderate to high rainfall across the upper Murray catchments during June improved inflows into the River Murray system and the upstream storages. Allocations have now reached 100 per cent every year since 2011-12.

Because full allocation has been reached, no further allocation announcements are scheduled for the 2026-27 water year. One planning note carries over from the earlier announcements: because the minimum opening allocation announced on 15 April exceeded 50 per cent, irrigators are not eligible to carry over unused 2025-26 allocation volumes into 2026-27, so the season begins on full allocation with a clean slate.

For irrigation businesses in the Riverland and the Lower Murray, a full allocation is the cue for the system upgrade, audit and scheduling conversations that get deferred in a dry opening year.

Read the Department for Environment and Water announcement

4. NSW Coastal Metering: Under Four Months to the 1 December Deadline

The first coastal compliance date in the New South Wales non-urban metering rollout is now less than four months away. Coastal water users whose works are nominated by a total licence entitlement of 100 ML or more must have a compliant, pattern-approved meter installed and validated by a Duly Qualified Person by 1 December 2026.

Works nominated by more than 15 ML and less than 100 ML have until 1 December 2027, or the renewal of their work approval, whichever is later. The wider state target is for 95 per cent of licensed water take to be accurately and reliably metered using tamper-evident equipment by 1 December 2026. The threshold is based on entitlement, not allocation, and is cumulative across all licence categories nominating the work.

Separately, amendments to the Water Management (General) Regulation 2025 are implementing the final recommendations from the review of the non-urban metering framework, following public exhibition that closed on 15 June. Among the changes: approval holders will be able to specify which access licence water is taken from where multiple licences are linked to a single water supply work, and holders of access licences with 3,000 or more unit shares or megalitres will be required to attest annually to the volume taken.

Members holding coastal entitlements should book a Certified Meter Installer and Validator now rather than in the final quarter. Installer capacity for the 2026 cohort will be absorbed well before the deadline.

Find a Certified Meter Installer and Validator in the Certification Directory

NSW non-urban metering guidance

5. One Set of Waterwise Gardening Messages for Western Australia

Water Corporation has finalised a set of Waterwise Gardening Messages agreed across four Western Australian bodies: Water Corporation, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, and the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority. The aim is consistent waterwise messaging across every agency and community engagement activity, rather than four versions of the same advice.

There are two documents. A two-page quick guide organises the tips by theme, and a longer Complete Waterwise Garden Guide fills in the detail behind them. The artwork carries Kep Katitjin branding and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation will publish the guides on its website shortly. Irrigation Australia will be incorporating the messaging into our training modules and our waterwise material, and the guides will be added to the Waterwise Programs website.

For Western Australian contractors, retailers and councils, this is the version of the advice your customers will start hearing from every direction, so it is worth aligning your own customer conversations with it. The guides will be reviewed in around 12 months.

One practical note: there are separate print and digital versions. The print version is for hard copy distribution only, because its web addresses are not all hyperlinked. Use the online version for anything you send or share electronically.

Waterwise Programs

6. Moonee Valley: A Racetrack Irrigation System Recycling Close to 90 Per Cent

The Moonee Valley Racecourse redevelopment in Melbourne is worth a look for anyone who designs or specifies large-scale turf irrigation. The project includes a new 27 metre wide racetrack built with improved drainage, irrigation and turf, and a whole-of-site environmentally sustainable design that targets close to 90 per cent water recycling on the racetrack’s irrigation system, alongside a commitment to 100 per cent renewable power.

Recycling at that rate on a surface where turf performance is safety-critical is not a small claim. It is the kind of project that shifts what clients think is achievable, and it is a useful reference point the next time a sports turf or public open space client asks whether recycled water and playing surface quality can coexist.

The club has been publishing regular construction updates, including a July 2026 progress video, as the track and precinct works advance.

Moonee Valley Racecourse redevelopment

7. The Overflow Edition 84 Is Out Now

Edition 84 of The Overflow, the quarterly publication of Irrigation Australia’s Western Australian Region, is available online now. It went live on 3 August.

The cover story covers the apprenticeship pathway in Western Australia, where AHC32424 Certificate III in Irrigation Technology has been varied to a Class B apprenticeship under the Irrigation Technician title, declared in February 2026. For Western Australian employers weighing up how to bring new people into the business, it is the most practical piece we have published on the subject.

The Overflow circulates well beyond our membership, reaching Waterwise Program participants, golf course superintendents, retailers, contractors and manufacturers, and covers water and industry policy alongside residential, public open space and rural irrigation.

Read The Overflow Edition 84

8. Productivity Commission Water Reform Final Report Due 4 September

The Productivity Commission’s National Water Reform 2026 public inquiry has moved into its final stage. The Commission is preparing its final report, which is due to the Australian Government by 4 September 2026, after which the Government must table it within 25 sitting days.

This is the Commission’s fourth inquiry into governments’ progress under the National Water Initiative, as required by the Water Act 2007. Two interim updates were released this winter, on 19 June and 6 July, with submissions closing on 10 July and 24 July respectively. Both submission windows have now closed.

The reason to watch the report rather than the process is that these recommendations tend to shape state-level entitlement, metering and compliance rules for years afterward. Entitlement reliability, water market integrity, metering and measurement standards and the funding model for water infrastructure all sit within scope, and all flow through to what irrigators can plan for and what installers and designers are asked to build.

National Water Reform 2026 public inquiry

9. National Biosecurity Week, 24 to 30 August

National Biosecurity Week runs from 24 to 30 August 2026, with the message that prevention, preparedness and early action are what protect Australia’s food supply, environment and economy.

For irrigation businesses the practical version of that message is straightforward. Invasive aquatic weeds are a direct threat to irrigation infrastructure: species such as yellow burrhead invade wetlands, rice fields and irrigation channels, water caltrop forms dense mats that block waterways, and water poppy forms entangled mats that obstruct flow and can damage equipment in infested waterways.

Three things worth doing during the week: clean equipment, footwear and vehicles between sites, make sure your crews know what the notifiable aquatic weeds look like in your state, and report a suspected incursion rather than assuming someone else already has.

National Biosecurity Week 2026, Plant Health Australia

Upcoming Training Courses

Irrigation Australia is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO 91313) delivering nationally accredited qualifications and certifications. Our courses use a blended learning model, combining hands-on face-to-face training with interactive virtual classrooms. A selection of upcoming face-to-face courses is below. Places are limited, so early registration is recommended.

September 2026

Certified Irrigation Installer, Queensland, 15-18 September 2026

October 2026

November 2026

Electrofusion and Butt Welding, Western Australia, 4-5 November 2026

December 2026

Early 2027

Funding and discounts: Western Australian participants should check the WA Apprenticeship and the current Priority Industry Training funding subsidies, which substantially reduce the cost of the Certificate III in Irrigation Technology. Councils and contractors sending staff to the October Western Australian intake should ask the training team about eligibility before they enrol, not after. Group discounts are available for organisations enrolling multiple staff.

Self-paced online options also remain open, including the free Irrigation Insights induction course and the Introduction to Irrigation Part A and Part B courses. Company members can purchase a 12 month subscription giving all staff unlimited access to all three online courses.

View all upcoming training courses and dates

The Irrigation Australia Talent Hub – Employers Wanted!

Looking for your next hire? Delivered in partnership with Goheadhunt, the Irrigation Australia Talent Hub connects employers with a growing pool of industry talent, including graduates of our Certificate III and certification programs and people coming through the Irrigation Insights induction course. Members can create a free employer profile and start attracting candidates from across the irrigation sector.

The Talent Hub runs on a Pay-for-Success model, so you only pay when you make a successful hire. With the pool of registered candidates continuing to grow, it is a low-risk way to fill roles with people who know the industry. The Talent Hub only works if employers are on it, so we would encourage every member business with current or upcoming vacancies to register a profile today.

Become an Irrigation Australia Member · View upcoming Training Courses · View the latest Career Opportunities

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