COMBINING irrigation with innovation, Rubicon Water’s automated irrigation technology now benefits thousands of farmers across the globe, creating sustainable agricultural outcomes as producers and district operators work to meet global demand while using less labour, water and energy.
Wanting to explore the technology that Rubicon has developed in Australia, Chief Engineer of the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District in the United States, Brian Scott, joined the 2023 Irrigation Leader Tour of the Murray-Darling Basin in April.
Over the course of five days, Brian had the opportunity to visit a handful of Australia’s largest and most innovative irrigation districts including Goulburn-Murray Water, where large-scale gravity-fed irrigation networks coupled with ongoing investment in automated technology have assisted the district in achieving distribution efficiencies of up to 90 per cent.
Motivated by his own District’s need to ensure greater consistency of water delivery to landowners, as well as to investigate Rubicon’s irrigation management software system as a potential upgrade candidate, Brian said Rubicon was going to play a pivotal role in his District’s future as it continues to add automation.
Eager also to meet the operators who have implemented the technology in Australian districts to gain insight into challenges met and over overcome, Brian said his District had already installed Rubicon’s automated flow metering gates across six sites and is planning to implement more in the future, while continuing to rollout Rubicon’s software which lets operators view live data and control sites remotely.
Following the Irrigation Leader Tour Brian said, “I would describe Rubicon Water’s technology as influential in securing more sustainable irrigation networks around the globe.
“As the world has a focus on sustainable agriculture to feed an ever-growing population, optimising the use of a very precious resource, water, is going to be key to keeping up with global demands.
“It’s clear that Rubicon has been instrumental in optimising the use of water in Australia, and I believe they will be pivotal in helping the rest of us around the globe do the same.”
