The Goulburn Murray Water (GMW) Water Efficiency Project of Victoria, a state in Australia, will receive A$177.5m ($138.1m) in Commonwealth funding.

The new funding will help in transforming the ageing off-farm water infrastructure in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District.

This investment will help in recovering water through off-farm efficiency and infrastructure projects, thereby eliminating the need for water buybacks.

Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said: “I am pleased to announce this off-farm funding that will modernise and make Victoria’s largest irrigation system more efficient, generating significant water savings without damaging regional economies.

“Socio-economic considerations have been, and will continue to be, front of mind for Victoria as they work to make sure local communities and businesses benefit.”

The Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District accounts for over 70% of all water stored in Victoria and around 90% of water used for irrigation purposes across the state.

Victorian Water Minister Richard Wynne said: “The GMW Water Efficiency Project will provide significant economic stimulus for local and regional communities by creating hundreds of fulltime jobs during the construction phase while delivering significant environmental outcomes.

“The Victorian Government, through our delivery agency Goulburn-Murray Water, will deliver the GMW Water Efficiency Project generating 15.9 GL of environmental water savings by modernising or decommissioning more than 250 km of channels and upgrading more than 1,000 outlets by 2023.”

“We’ve already recovered around 826 GL for the environment and we’re ready to start delivering through the GMW Water Efficiency Project as soon as possible.”