THIRTY years ago, Australia was facing significant water issues, primarily driven by its already dry climate, increasing demand, and the severe impacts unfolding during the Millennium Drought. In the mid-1990s, population growth, agricultural expansion and industrial development were placing significant pressures on existing water supplies.
Rubicon Water’s origins trace back to the early 90s, during a time when the Victorian Government set out to create independent rural water authorities to make rural water supply commercially self-sufficient.
In 1994, the Rural Water Corporation (RWC) was disbanded as the government regionalised water operations into independent authorities to manage each supply region identified under the RWC, paving the way for innovation and better water management practices. Amid this change emerged five engineers who saw an opportunity to revolutionise and digitise gravity-fed channel networks. In 1995, Bruce Rodgerson, Trevor Tennant, Gino Ciavarella, Tony Oakes and David Aughton founded Rubicon Water in Shepparton. Their mission was to transform inefficient, manually operated irrigation systems into automated networks.
In 1998, Rubicon formed a pivotal partnership with the University of Melbourne, a collaboration that continues today, combining engineering and academic expertise to tackle water challenges. The result was Total Channel Control (TCC): an integrated solution combining automated gates, flow meters, software, and communications to enable near on-demand water delivery.
This innovation, radical at the time, is now improving water distribution efficiencies to over 90 per cent, paving the way for more sustainable water management both locally and internationally – with Australia accounting for less than one per cent of the global irrigated landscape.
Rubicon’s technology continues to attract global attention. Recently, the company hosted delegates from Italy and Chile, where projects are underway — including one of Europe’s most innovative irrigation modernisation projects in Italy’s Pontine Marshes, where Rubicon Water’s technology is primed to solve an ancient Roman water management problem that has plagued the region well before Leonardo da Vinci mapped the area in the 16th century.
Demands on water are increasing worldwide, driven by population growth, climate change, and the need to produce more food with fewer resources. Irrigated agriculture consumes approximately 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater, yet more than half of this water fails to reach its intended destination due to lack of measurement and control.
With 2050 predicted to bring significant challenges for water availability and global food supply, Rubicon Water is contributing to the global effort through smarter, more sustainable large-scale water management. With proven technology now operating in over 20 countries, Rubicon is helping make more water available by reducing losses, improving efficiency, and supporting irrigators to do more with less.
Celebrating 30 years of global impact — with roots right here in Shepparton.
