Coleambally Irrigation

What Coleambally Irrigation does

Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative Limited (CICL) is a member-owned irrigation water supplier formed in 1999 to manage and deliver irrigation water to members operating irrigated farms within the Coleambally Irrigation Area in the Murrumbidgee Valley, New South Wales, Australia. The cooperative serves approximately 700+ members whose operations span rice, cotton, and mixed cropping enterprises, delivering water through a network of channels approaching 60 years of age that are operated under a NSW government licence issued pursuant to the Water Management Act 2000. CICL converts to a non-distributing co-operative in March 2024 after winding up its former mutual subsidiary CIMCL in 2021.

CICL's core technology stack comprises a Total Channel Control automated channel management system enabling precise flow regulation across the irrigation network, proprietary FlumeGate™ automated outlet gates that are accuracy-tested twice per season against Australian Standard AS4747, and four weather stations integrated with the OzForecast network providing district-wide coverage including Delta T spray condition indicators. Member-facing digital services include Waterways, an online platform for placing water orders and managing deliveries, and WaterMart, an internal and external water trading platform for annual (temporary) and permanent allocation transfers. Additional service lines include environmental water delivery to wetlands, groundwater augmentation support with telemetry monitoring, drainage management under an Environment Protection Licence, and off-channel storage facilities to manage supply variability.

The business model rests on annual subscription-style water access fees paid by entitlement-holding members, transaction fees on water trades facilitated through WaterMart, member benefit allocations (10%) and additional water offers (7%) distributed from available carryover, and pass-through collection of government fixed water access charges. Members are simultaneously customers and owners, with governance split between four elected member directors and two independent directors. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-member within the Coleambally Irrigation Area; there is no adjacent or competing irrigation infrastructure, and members face meaningful switching costs due to delivery entitlements and on-farm investments tied to CICL's network. CICL runs a below-CPI stable pricing regime that has persisted for 25 years, distinguishes its offering through environmental water delivery and biodiversity partnerships (including the Bitterns in Rice Project since 2012), and invests in ongoing refurbishment of its aging infrastructure under its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.

Name

Coleambally Irrigation

Legal name

Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative Limited

Website

https://colyirr.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Coleambally Irrigation is a member-owned cooperative delivering irrigation water through an automated Total Channel Control channel network and proprietary FlumeGate™ outlets to approximately 700+ rice, cotton, and mixed cropping farmer members in the Coleambally Irrigation Area of the Murrumbidgee Valley, NSW, Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Irrigation Water Services

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310)

SIC

Water Supply (4941)

akta.pro primary industry

Irrigation & Outdoor Plumbing Products (IMADALAI)

Keywords

• Irrigation water delivery
• Water trading platform
• Agricultural water supply
• Irrigation infrastructure
• Water allocation management

Headquarters

HQ city

Coleambally

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Water Access Fees: Annual charges for water access entitlements and delivery services to members
2. Water Trading Fees: Fees collected for processing annual (temporary) and permanent water trades through WaterMart platform
3. Member Benefit and Additional Water Offers: CICL generates additional value through member benefit allocations (10%) and additional water offers (7%) based on available carryover
4. Government Fixed Charges Collection: Collection and passing through of government water access charges to members

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative Limited (CICL) is an irrigation corporation that delivers irrigation water to member farms through an automated channel network using Total Channel Control systems and FlumeGate™ outlets. The cooperative serves rice, cotton, and mixed cropping irrigators in the Coleambally Irrigation Area in the Murrumbidgee Valley, NSW, and also facilitates water trading via WaterMart and customer order management via Waterways.

Product overview

Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative Limited (CICL) operates as a single, unified irrigation water delivery service serving the Coleambally Irrigation Area in NSW, Australia. The core offering consists of irrigation water delivery through a channel network with Total Channel Control automation, complemented by the Watermart platform for water trading, Waterways for customer order management, and environmental water delivery services. Additional services include groundwater augmentation, drainage management, and off-channel storage facilities. CICL also supports compliance with Murray-Darling Basin requirements and provides weather station access to members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Irrigation Water Delivery Services Core water delivery service providing irrigation water to approximately 700+ member farms through a network of channels, with automated Total Channel Control systems for precision water management. For rice, cotton, and mixed cropping irrigators in the Coleambally Irrigation Area.
• WaterMart

Quantifiable outcome

• Below CPI stable water charges over 25 years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026CICL became a member of EWON from 1 July 2026 as part of the NSW Government's Regulatory Improvement Program. EWON provides free, fair, and independent dispute resolution for CICL customers in cases where CICL cannot resolve complaints regarding service, billing, connection, and land access issues.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Tasmanian Irrigation: State-owned irrigation operator in Tasmania delivering water to farming customers across multiple schemes. Comparable irrigation infrastructure operator model to CICL, but in a different state with separate governance and regulatory environment.
• Western Irrigation Network: Victorian-based irrigation and rural water services operator. Comparable business model delivering irrigation water to farming customers, though operating in a different state (Victoria) with a separate regulatory regime under the Victorian Water Act.
• Lower Murray Water: Victorian rural water corporation serving irrigation districts in the Lower Murray region. Comparable offering of irrigation delivery and drainage services to farming customers, but operating across the border in Victoria under a different state regulatory framework.

Broad incumbents

• WaterNSW: NSW state-owned bulk water supplier from which CICL orders water through regulated seven-day advance ordering. Comparable water utility function in the same state, but operating upstream as a wholesale provider rather than a downstream irrigation distributor.
• Sunwater: Queensland government-owned water infrastructure operator providing bulk water storage, delivery, and irrigation services. Comparable irrigation water delivery operations to CICL, but operates at a larger scale and across multiple Queensland catchments.
• Goulburn-Murray Water: Victoria's largest rural water corporation, managing irrigation delivery across the Goulburn and Murray systems. Comparable to CICL in core irrigation delivery, but materially larger and government-owned, with broader portfolio including storage, drainage, and waterways management.

Direct peers

• Murray Irrigation Limited: Australia's largest private irrigation company, operating in the Murray Valley in southern NSW. Comparable to Coleambally Irrigation as a member-owned irrigation corporation delivering water through channel infrastructure to farming customers, with a similar product mix of delivery, trading, and drainage services.
• Murrumbidgee Irrigation: Irrigation corporation operating in the same Murrumbidgee Valley region of NSW, supplying water to irrigators via gravity-fed channel networks. Highly comparable to CICL in geography, customer base (rice, cotton, cereals), regulatory framework, and service offering.

Others

• National Irrigators' Council: Australian peak industry body for irrigated agriculture, chaired by CICL's own Policy & Communication Manager Jenny McLeod. Thematically connected as the advocacy and policy ecosystem in which CICL operates; not a commercial peer but a direct governance and policy relationship.
• Rubicon Water: Australian technology provider specializing in Total Channel Control and FlumeGate-style automated irrigation infrastructure. Direct technology adjacency to CICL, which uses Total Channel Control systems and FlumeGate™ outlets; Rubicon supplies the underlying automation category across multiple Australian irrigation schemes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/share/1Cw8tbPz2L
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coleambally-irrigation-co-operative-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/coleamballyirrigation

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coleambally Irrigation