The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment and Water
The Hon Rose Jackson MP, NSW Minister for Water
An extra 147 megalitres of water has been returned to the environment thanks to the completion of a $2.4 million critical infrastructure upgrade at Nap Nap Station near Hay in southwest New South Wales.
The project is the latest to be completed under the Australian Government's $1.54 billion Off-farm Efficiency Program and cements the NSW
Government's commitment to help recover 450 gigalitres of water under the Murray−Darling Basin Plan.
Off-farm Efficiency Program projects aim to modernise water delivery systems to boost drought resilience, improve efficiency and increase water availability for the environment, irrigation and local communities.
The newly constructed infrastructure includes:
- 85 kilometres of pipes which have replaced open channels to reduce water evaporation and seepage
- two stock and domestic pump stations which will improve water security and delivery to a wide area to improve environmental outcomes by reducing concentrated grazing pressures
- 47 tanks and 46 troughs to support animal welfare.
The project has also significantly boosted bushfire fighting capabilities by improving water access points, saving crucial seconds in times of emergency.
Rural Fire Service compatible couplings were fitted to water tanks installed under the project across the property. This work has already proved invaluable after firefighters were able to easily connect to the tanks and contain and extinguish a blaze on the property which was sparked by lightning last year.
Nap Nap is a sheep, cattle and cropping station sitting on 30,000 hectares of environmentally and culturally significant land and plays a key role in the delivery of water in the lower Murrumbidgee.
Nap Nap Station wishes to acknowledge and thank the Nari Nari Tribal Council led by Jamie Woods for their invaluable assistance with the project.
The route of the pipeline and the various watering points and installations also had to be surveyed for Indigenous artifacts and burial places.
Work on the project began in 2022 and was completed in April 2024 using local and regional suppliers and contractors making a significant contribution to the local economy.
