The pipeline is part of the Wah Wah stock and domestic pipeline project that will supply pressurised piped water to 62 properties.

The Wah Wah district covers 310,000 hectares in an area ranging from Carrathool to Hay in the south, and from Gunbar to Booligal in the north.

Chairman of the Gunbar Water Steering Committee, local farmer Don Low, said it was pleasing to see the finish line in sight.

“This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to receive filtered Murrumbidgee river water,” he said.

“In a couple of years, we will look back and believe the pipeline is the best thing to happen to this area.”

Mr Low thanked members of the committee for volunteering their time to work closely with Murrumbidgee Irrigation (MI) and other local stakeholders.

“We have always looked at what was best for the community, not the individual,” he said.

“We wanted to end up with something that we could be proud of and look forward to the project being completed to a great standard.”

MI chairman Frank Sergi explained that work on the project would include the construction of the 270km Gunbar water pipeline and private pipelines, as well as pumping stations and outlets.

“The current supply system is inefficient with water conveyed from Barren Box Storage along the Wah Wah main channel and into 1590 km of earth channels, to fill more than 600 in-ground tanks on the properties,” he said.

“With the new pipeline, Wah Wah customers will benefit through improved levels of service, with year-round access to the river and bores, pressurised water supply and measured water use, which can be remotely monitored.”

Mr Sergi also thanked Hay and Carrathool shire councils for their co-operation with the project.

Many Wah Wah farmers have already completed on-farm works in preparation for connection to the Gunbar water pipeline.

Wah Wah farmer Bruce McLean did his own on-farm works with the assistance of a specially engineered pipe distribution device, which he designed and built himself.

“The Australian government is providing the on-farm materials and in turn our part of the bargain is doing the works,” Mr McLean said.

The $47 million Wah Wah stock and domestic pipeline project forms part of MI’s major push towards modernisation, which is being funded under the Australian government’s Private Irrigation Infrastructure Operators Program in NSW (PIIOP-NSW).