Evaporation reduction by suspended and floating covers and chemical films may substantially reduce stored water losses if the right product is selected for a specific water storage. In the Granite Belt Region of Queensland – where horticulture production is dominant – evaporation from storage is typically between 1.6m and 1.8m/year.
Water
The Taylor family are a fourth-generation vegetable farming family. Their enterprise operates across sites in southeast Queensland with production farms in Redland Bay, the Granite Belt and Kalbar in the Fassifern Valley. This geographic spread allows them to spread their risk and to continually provide product lines to market. They supply five main products: iceberg lettuce, wombok, celery, broccoli, and silverbeet.
The family recognise the importance and value of high security water to their production system and have developed an interconnected series of water storages on their farm at Amiens.
Download the case study (PDF 1.9MB)
The family recognise the importance and value of high security water to their production system and have developed an interconnected series of water storages on their farm at Amiens.
Download the case study (PDF 1.9MB)
In 2003, the Andreatta family at Golden Valley Orchards, Stanthorpe, installed a NetPro suspended shade cloth dam cover, as part of a Queensland Government research project evaluating the effectiveness of evaporation mitigation technologies.
During the most recent drought in Stanthorpe – when some irrigators had to truck in water at a cost of more than $10,000/ML – Golden Valley Orchards was able to irrigate from the covered storage, when surrounding farmers were without water, safeguarding their production levels.