Western Murray Irrigation

What Western Murray Irrigation does

Western Murray Irrigation (WMI) is a grower-owned irrigation infrastructure operator based in southwestern New South Wales, Australia, delivering non-potable irrigation water drawn from the Murray River to more than 4,100 hectares of farmland across three irrigation districts: Buronga, Coomealla, and Curlwaa. Founded in 1995, WMI operates approximately $49M of fully piped and pressurised infrastructure spanning 184km of pipelines, supplying predominantly wine grape, citrus, and horticultural growers in the Sunraysia region. The asset base is being progressively modernised through a digital water meter rollout (drive-by readable units replacing legacy meters) and a Customer Portal that supports online account access, water ordering, balance enquiries, trading, and stakeholder information, alongside automated phone ordering.

WMI's revenue model is fee-based and multi-stream, comprising Account Fees, Meter Service Fees, an Asset Replacement Fund fee, Delivery Entitlement Fees (which were increased 3.7–4.7% for 2026/27), Electricity Usage Fees (up 2.5% for 2026/27), and Water Trading Services fees. The business operates within a regulatory framework administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), and WaterNSW, which constrains pricing flexibility and water availability but also protects the licence-based service monopoly within its three districts. The customer base is concentrated in regional SMB growers, and the operator is governed as a cooperative with member-grower oversight.

Strategically, WMI is in an asset-renewal and operational-digitisation phase rather than an expansion phase: recent and planned capital works include the Coomealla Lateral 7 pipeline upgrade (completed July 2026), the Stock & Garden digital water meter upgrade (April 2026), and scheduled Curlwaa drainage improvements in 2026/27. Organisational capability was reinforced by the August 2026 appointment of Terry Gebert as Executive Manager Operations, formalising operational leadership. There is no public indication of geographic expansion, M&A activity, funding rounds, or AI/ML capability development in the input data.

Name

Western Murray Irrigation

Legal name

Western Murray Irrigation Ltd

Website

https://westernmurray.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Western Murray Irrigation is a grower-owned irrigation infrastructure operator in southwestern New South Wales, delivering non-potable Murray River water to over 4,100 hectares of wine grape, citrus, and horticultural farmland across the Buronga, Coomealla, and Curlwaa districts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Irrigation Water Utility Services

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Agricultural Services (700), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Irrigation Design, Installation & Maintenance Services (Engineering, Retrofit, Repair) (AFAAACAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pipes, Tubing & Conveyance Infrastructure (Mainlines, Laterals, Hoses) (AFAAACAG), Monitoring, Metering & Flow Measurement (Meters, Pressure/Flow Gauges, Telemetry) (AFAAACAK), Irrigation Automation & Controls Services (SCADA, Sensors, Telemetry) (AFACAFAI), Water-Smart Irrigation & Water Stewardship (Drip/Micro, Scheduling, Water Harvesting) (AFAGAMAD)

Keywords

• Irrigation water delivery
• Drainage services
• Agricultural water management
• Water trading services
• Irrigation infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Dareton

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Irrigation Water Delivery Charges: Charges for delivering non-potable irrigation water sourced from Murray River through pressurised pipeline network. Includes Account Fee, Meter Service Fee, and Asset Replacement Fund Fee.
2. Delivery Entitlement Fees: Fees for water delivery entitlements that allow customers to receive water supply. Fees increased by 3.7%-4.7% in 2026/27.
3. Electricity Usage Fees: Pass-through electricity costs for pumping water, increased by 2.5% following new electricity supply contract negotiation.
4. Water Trading Services: Facilitates internal and external water allocation trading, entitlement transfers, and delivery allowance trading with associated administrative fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Western Murray Irrigation delivers non-potable irrigation water sourced from the Murray River through fully piped and pressurised infrastructure across three irrigation areas (Buronga, Coomealla, Curlwaa) in southwestern NSW. The company also provides drainage services, facilitates water allocation and entitlement trading, and supplies stock and garden water to grower shareholders, supported by digital metering, a Customer Portal, and an automated telephone ordering system.

Product overview

Western Murray Irrigation operates as an irrigation infrastructure operator providing a unified water delivery platform across three irrigation areas (Buronga, Coomealla, and Curlwaa) in southwestern NSW. The core offering consists of piped and pressurised water delivery infrastructure with associated customer-facing systems including a Customer Portal for water ordering and trading, a Shareholder Portal, and comprehensive billing services. Supporting services include drainage management (70km of pipelines), stock and garden water supply, water quality management, and water trading facilitation. The company maintains infrastructure assets valued at approximately $49 million, delivering non-potable water from the Murray River to over 4,100 hectares of irrigated land supporting wine grapes, citrus, and other horticultural crops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water Delivery Service Delivers high-security irrigation water from the Murray River across three irrigation areas (Buronga, Coomealla, Curlwaa) in southwestern NSW, serving over 4,100 hectares of irrigated land with wine grapes, citrus, and other horticultural crops.
• Water Trading Services Facilitates buying and selling of water allocation (temporary transfers) and water entitlements (permanent transfers), both internally between WMI customers and externally with non-WMI customers, including delivery entitlement trading within irrigation areas.
• Drainage Services Owns and manages 70 km of drainage pipelines to manage on-farm drainage water delivered to designated disposal areas, including flood management and maintenance of Buronga and Curlwaa levee banks.
• Stock & Garden Water Supply Supplies non-potable water for stock watering and garden irrigation to customers who must maintain at least 2 weeks of storage capacity, with metered supply through 32mm and 50mm digital meters.
• Water Quality Management Manages water quality primarily through scouring, with hydrogen peroxide treatment program for bryozoan control, monitoring for blue-green algae, blackwater, salinity, and other water quality factors affecting irrigation supply.

Quantifiable outcome

• Digital meter upgrades improve accuracy of water measurement especially at low usage levels
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WaterNSWcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaterNSW is a key regulatory and operational partner providing water quality monitoring, algal alerts, and water market oversight. WMI operates under WaterNSW licensing frameworks.
• NSW Department of Industry - WatercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment department responsible for water regulation and policy in NSW, setting operating frameworks and licensing requirements for irrigation infrastructure operators.
• NSW Irrigators' CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPeak industry body representing irrigators' interests, providing advocacy and policy input on water matters affecting members.
• Wentworth Shire CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal government authority in the Wentworth region where WMI operates, supporting regional development and infrastructure coordination.
• Murray-Darling Basin AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal authority managing the Murray-Darling Basin water resources, setting policy and regulations affecting WMI's water supply and operations.
• Irrigators AustraliaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational organisation representing irrigators' interests across Australia, providing advocacy and industry representation.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Murray-Darling Basin Authority: Federal agency that sets the Basin Plan and manages water recovery programs. Not a commercial peer but the upstream policy maker whose decisions determine the High Security and General Security allocations that WMI delivers.
• WaterNSW: NSW state-owned bulk water supplier and WMI's upstream provider of Murray River water under licence. Not a competitor but the principal regulatory and operational counterparty, making its water allocation decisions the dominant external driver of WMI volumes.

Direct peers

• Lower Murray Water: Victorian urban and rural water corporation serving the Sunraysia region adjoining WMI's NSW service area. Provides irrigation and stock-and-domestic water through piped networks with comparable customer profile and water source (Murray River).
• Murrumbidgee Irrigation: NSW Murray-Darling Basin irrigation infrastructure operator supplying pressurised water to growers across multiple districts. Comparable business model as an irrigation corporation operating pipelines, pump stations and customer water ordering systems.
• Coleambally Irrigation: Cooperative-style irrigation corporation in the southern NSW Riverina delivering Murray-Darling Basin water through pressurised pipe and channel infrastructure. Directly comparable grower-owned operating model in the same basin.
• Murray Irrigation Limited: Grower-owned private irrigation infrastructure operator in the southern Murray-Darling Basin (NSW), delivering water through pressurised pipeline networks across multiple irrigation areas. Closest comparable in scale, structure and customer base to WMI.

Broad incumbents

• Sunwater: Queensland government-owned water infrastructure operator managing dams, weirs and irrigation distribution networks. Comparable irrigation infrastructure operator but in a different basin with different crop mix and customer profile.
• Goulburn-Murray Water: Victorian state-owned statutory authority operating large-scale irrigation, drainage and water storage infrastructure across northern Victoria. Comparable asset class (pipelines, pump stations, regulated tariffs) but broader geographic and service footprint than WMI.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/western-murray-irrigation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 Western Murray Irrigation