G-MW Water Delivery Services general manager Warren Blyth said it was important customers knew what they were entitled to before they put in their orders.
“It’s crucial you understand what your licences and water entitlements are so when it comes to ordering you know what you’re legally allowed to,” Mr Blyth said.
“G-MW has a zero tolerance approach to water theft. Customers must avoid ordering over their entitlements.”
G-MW customers will be able to place their first orders on August 12; from then, they will be able to place orders up to 10 days in advance.
“I encourage our customers to always put their orders in as early as possible, particularly in times of high demand,” Mr Blyth said.
“You can put an order in 10 days before you actually need water. Having advanced warning helps us plan and meet our customers’ requirements.”
He said this irrigation season, many G-MW customers would also have more flexibility in how they ordered water, due to some upgrades to G-MW’s water ordering system — WaterLINE.
“There are some new features on our WaterLINE system, including the ability to change the flow rate and finish time of your orders depending on your order and where you are in the system,” Mr Blyth said
“Behind-the-scenes, we’ve done some software upgrades that will help us from a planning perspective that will help make for a better customer experience through the irrigation season.”
The general outlook for irrigators in the G-MW region is promising, particularly for customers in the state’s north-east.
The opening season determination, announced on July 1, was the highest in the Murray system for 20 years.
The Bureau of Meteorology is also predicting a wetter than average August to October.
“We are in a really good window at the moment for water availability and cost per megalitre of water,” Mr Blyth said.
“With the volume of water available in our storages, we can be confident in thinking that there are a couple of favourable seasons ahead.”