March 2010
IA 2010 - it's all go
By this week the Conference registration brochure should be up on the website. Make sure you register for the Conference soon and take advantage of earlybird prices.
Over 100 companies and organisations are expected to be exhibitors and more than 3500 people will visit the exhibition. Extensive PR is being done to inform farmers and growers of every description and urban irrigators that this is a must-visit destination. Book your exhibition space if you haven’t already done so.
The call for abstracts is still open so there is still time to get involved as a participant at the Conference.
Go to IA 2010 website for more information.
IAL business plan being developed. At its meeting last week, the board approved the strategic plan updates from December's workshop. The business plan for the 2010-11 financial year is now being developed, based on the strategic updates. This plan will be a comprehensive outline of and budget for all IAL's projects and activities for the year. High on the list of activities is an increase in efforts to provide real value to members and support through the regions.
New Certfification Board appointed.
The IAL board has appointed members of newly established Certification Board. Fourteen nominations were received, all from well qualified people. The mix of skills on the board is important, so successful candidates were chosen mainly based on their fit into the group, ensuring not just irrigation industry skills and knowledge were included, but also the very important element of governance. Successful nominations were: Colin Campbell, Hydroplan (IAL board represntative); Denis Sparrow, PIRSA; Milan Nedomacki, South East Water in Victoria; Gennaro Velotti, Manager of Netafim’s design department; and Ben Chapman, from Queensland. Congratulations and thank you to those who were interested in contributing; unfortunately places were very limited. Doug Hall, IAL WA regional committee IDO, will be the committee's secretary.
Melbourne Region completes business plan. The main aims of the plan are to to increase activities in the Melbourne region, improve the funding model and employ professional assistance to get things moving. This is an exciting time for the region, as after many years of frustration trying to operate with few resources, things should start to progress.
IAL farewells Jann. Jann O’Connor, our Training Manager has moved on from IAL. Jann was well known in the industry, being with IAL for 5 years. The role is to be significantly changed, with the emphasis for the future being to rapidly review and update our training and certification offerings. This will be done in conjunction with the Professional Development Committee and the newly appointed Certification Board. Trevor LeBreton, Business Manager, will take over the role in the short term, however, it is intended to appoint a full time Manager midyear.
To find out what's happening in your region click on the links. North Queensland, South East Queensland, Darling Downs
, North West NSW, Sydney, Central and Far West NSW, Melbourne and Southern Victoria
, South Australia, and Western Australia.
JOURNAL
The next edition of Irrigation Australia journal will be the special conference and expo edition. Extra copies are printed and inserted in conference satchels and given to expo visitors. Don't miss this opportunity to get your message out. For advertising contact Brian Rault email and to submit an article contact Anne Currey, email.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CID exam preparation course 23 and 24 March. Considering becoming a Certified Irrigation Designer (CID) or enrolled in the CID exam program? This is the course for you. Designed to provide a better understanding of the types of questions that could be asked and the level of skills and knowledge required. Course registration closes 9 March 2010. To register download the registration form from the IAL website
. For more information on the CID program go to the IAL website.
Irrigation Efficiency courses 2010. Do you manage an irrigation system and want to measure how efficient it is? Complete the IEC and you will be able to evaluate your system. Training in Certificate III in Irrigation competencies: troubleshooting irrigation systems; measuring irrigation delivery system performance; and operating pressurised irrigation systems. For dates for courses for 2010 go to the IAL website
Certified Meter Installers – Rural Meter Installation Certification.
This 2 day course provides certification for meter installers and is aimed at people who will be responsible for installing and validating water meters against Australian Standards installed in a rural environment.
If you are interested in running a course in your area contact Trevor LeBreton at IAL, phone 02 9476 0142.
Online training begins this month.
RMT is holding another of its popular on-line training courses for people wishing to gain skill sets towards IAL’s Irrigation Agronomist and Irrigation Manager certifications. Course begins Thursday 25 March; only a few places left. It covers scheduling, hydraulic parameters, environmental management plans, soils sampling and mapping and auditing irrigation systems. Participants can do all of the 9 units on offer or fewer. Cost is $300 per unit or $1800 for a full suite of competencies required for the certification. Irrigation property managers and owners may qualify for a FarmReady reimbursement of $1500. To register or for more information contact Barb McPherson at RMT, email
FOR YOUR DIARY
IA 2010. Put the dates for Irrigation Australia 2010 Conference and Exhibition in your diary - 6 to 8 June 2010 at Darling Harbour Convention Centre. You can keep up with the latest on Irrigation Australia Conference and Expo 2010 at its special website.
Flow Measurement Masterclass. Sydney 16-17 March. Covers: principles behind flow measurement in open channels and pipes; standards set by the National Measurement Institute that water service providers need to comply with and an understanding of the measurement of uncertainties; methods for validation and in situ reverification; an the latest research on smart metering technology and automation. Fore information and to register go to the IAL website's
Upcoming Courses webpage.
National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture. The centre has released its training program for 2010. Two-day courses in centre pivot, lateral move and travelling gun irrigation, irrigation fundamentals, irrigation and salinity, and surface irrigation optimisation. For information go to the NCEA website
National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. Check out courses for 2010 at the NCGRT website
Third International Conference on Water Resources and Renewal Energy Development, Asia. Being held in Kuching, Malaysia, 29 - 30 March 2010. For information go to website.
INDUSTRY NEWS
ICID announces WatSave Awards 2010. You have till 31 May to nominate a person or group for ICID's WatSave awards. The awards are presented each year to an individual or a team of individuals for outstanding contribution to water conservation for increasing the beneficial and/or efficient use of water to develop and improve the sustainable use of the critical resource. For information to the ICID website
AquaSpy Group wins innovation award. Congratulations to
Adelaide-based company, the AquaSpy Group, which won the SA State Government’s inaugural CleverGreen “Innovators to Watch” Award for the best clean technology product in SA. The company was selected from a range of companies that have developed clean technology products across the water, energy, wind, industry, and information technology sectors. For more information visit AquaSpy Group’s website
Water transfers quicker. Goulburn-Murray Water and Lower Murray Water have introduced an automated interface system that allows water brokers to electronically lodge transfer details with them. This will improve transfer times for internal and interstate trades, says Waterfind, SA based water broking company. For information go to Waterfind’s website
.
WaterSmart Funding to improve WUE. Irrigators in the Hawkesbury-Nepean area have till 26 March to apply for funding under the WaterSmart Farms Project. The project offers grants to irrigators using licensed river water to help improve water efficiency. For information go to NSW Department of Primary Industries website
SAWM
Companies and individuals wanting to apply for Smart Approved WaterMark in the next round need to get their applications in by 12 March. If you can't get your application in by then, dates for the rest of the year are: 4 June, 3 September and 26 November. For more information on applying go to the applications page on the SAWM website
STANDARDS UPDATE
Standards Australia committee CE 064, chaired by Kev Devlin of Sunwater in Queensland, is reviewing the final version of ATS4747, the series of standards for non urban water meters. The committee will be discussing publication date with Standards Australia. It will also review submissions from IAL members to facilitate the circulation of draft versions of the standard to ensure opportunities for comment from all stakeholders and to include clauses on in situ verification and certification standards for portable re-verification testing equipment. Anyone interested in commenting on these issues should contact Jeremy Cape email
who will coordinate responses to be forwarded to CE 064.
HANDY LINKS
Water education resource. Australia now has a water-education resource website. In a first, the website was developed by researchers from The University of Queensland to increase water and sustainability awareness. There are more than 700 online resources on the site. Check it out at Department of Water, Heritage and the Arts website
ICID newsletter online. The latest ICID News Update (February 2010) can now be downloaded from the ICID website
More Profit per Drop newlsetter morphs into a blog. The Agri-Science Queensland Irrigated Farming Systems Unit (DEEDI) have replaced their newsletter with more regular communication using a blog. You can check it out at this blog address.
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