Agriculture Victoria’s Greg Bekker said if you considered what the water in the dam was used for and potential losses, you could put things in place to minimise those losses.
“An estimate of how much your stock will drink should be made so you know what you are likely to need until after the autumn break,” Mr Bekker said.
“How much each animal will drink will vary depending on the type of animal, weight, stage of growth or pregnancy and as temperatures increase over summer.
“Knowing this, along with the total numbers of each class of stock, will give you the amount of water you need for stock use.
“If the dam is connected to a pump system for domestic use or watering gardens, then these figures should also be included in your calculations.”
The next biggest user (or loser) of water is evaporation.
You can lose the top one metre of water to evaporation each year, therefore having a small deep dam is a much better option than a large shallow one.
The amount of water getting into your dam will change, depending on runoff and the pastures above your dam.
Improved pastures, including deep-rooted perennials and summer active species will use more water and may reduce runoff.
“This, along with less rainfall means that at times you will get less runoff into your dams,” Mr Bekker said.
“It may not be an issue this year if dams have filled after a wet winter but needs to be considered in the longer term for years when this does not occur.”
Dam maintenance is critical to optimising water catchment, reducing water loss and erosion.
Resources have been developed to help maintain dams and water quality, measure dam volume and estimate water requirements.
Once you know these, you are in a good position to plan for shortfalls and look for longer-term options to ensure water security on-farm.
Agriculture Victoria extension staff can assist farmers with information, planning and design for stock and domestic water systems.
If you are interested in upgrading your farm water supply system, we have developed a new online workshop to assist producers to evaluate their current farm water supply and plan future changes.
For more information or to register your interest, phone Greg Bekker on 0417 340 236 or email greg.bekker@agriculture.vic.gov.au
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