Goulburn-Murray Water's annual winter works program will begin from mid-May, with $8 million of maintenance and upgrades intended to enhance the capacity of the region's irrigation network.
The program takes place each year during the irrigation shutdown period from May 15 to August 14, with crucial maintenance works ensuring the network will continue to provide a reliable water supply during the irrigation season.
G-MW Infrastructure Delivery Services general manager Warren Jose said the winter works program would be complete by early August to allow channels to be recharged and ready for the start of the 2021/22 irrigation season.
"Works will vary from site to site and can include channel bank and gate repairs, bridge works, desilting and weed control works," Mr Jose said.
"As always, the safety of our staff, customers and the local community is the priority, and with a large winter works program scheduled for this year, safety will continue to be at the forefront of everything we do.
"We ask the public to take care around any changes to traffic and road conditions near our work sites during this period."
In order to undertake the winter works program, G-MW will drain sections of the channel network.
This means some customers will not have access to water from the channel network and will need to make alternative arrangements for water supply during the non-irrigation period.
Domestic and stock customers should fill their dams ahead of the end of the irrigation season, to ensure they have water supply through winter.
Works this year will include the maintenance and desilting of channels at about 50 sites and weed spraying at about 24 sites to improve channel capacity.
Other maintenance works will be carried out at about 20 sites, and construction at another 41 sites.
The weed spraying portion of the works will include submerged aquatic weed control, spraying drains, and access and visibility spraying along channel banks and infrastructure, including pump stations, communication towers, outlets and regulators.
A map of channels that will be dewatered works being undertaken can be found at www.gmwater.com.au/winterworks.