ON-FARM IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY PROGRAM
Funding Guidelines
Sustainable Rural Water Use Infrastructure Program
RoundFive (2014-19)
To be eligible for consideration, applications must be delivered by 4pm Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDST) on:
Thursday, 19 MARCH 2015
For further information on this programme contact:
Department of the Environment
Phone: 1800 218 478
Email:
.
LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2014
The On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program Guidelines are licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the Department of the Environment, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/
Attribute this document as the ‘On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program Round 5 (2014-2019) Guidelines Commonwealth of Australia 2014’.
The Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable efforts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party]’.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Programme objectives 1
About the funding guidelines 1
Guidelines do not create legally binding rights or obligations. 2
What has changed in this round of the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program? 2
Timing 2
Available funding 3
Funding arrangements under the programme 3
Who is eligible to be a delivery partner? 3
Who is NOT eligible to be a delivery partner? 4
Consortium members 4
Conditions of funding under the programme – further eligibility requirements 4
Activities eligible for funding 5
Activities NOT eligible for funding 5
Application process overview 6
Information required for applications 7
Merit criteria for applications 7
Economic and social criteria 7
Environmental criteria 7
Technical criteria 7
Value for money criteria 8
Project Management and governance criteria 8
Financial viability criteria 9
Submitting an application 9
Closing dates 9
Where to obtain an application form 9
Format of application forms to submit 9
Lodgement of the application 9
Acknowledgement of applications 10
Assessment 10
Approval of funding 10
Funding agreement 10
Commencement date 11
When can proponents expect to commence sub-projects and how long can they take to implement? 11
Payment of funding 11
Monitoring, evaluation and reporting 11
Trade approval of water entitlements transferred to the Australian Government 11
Further Information 11
Other funding programmes 11
Taxation 11
Conflict of Interest 11
Compliance 12
Publicity and acknowledgement of Australian Government support 12
Bank accounts 12
Indemnities and warranties 12
Treatment of information provided to the Department 12
Privacy and Freedom of Information 13
Confidentiality 13
Departmental Conduct and Ethical Behaviour 13
Contract for eligible surface water entitlement transfer from a proponent to the Australian Government 13
Contact information 13
Glossary 14
ATTACHMENT A: ROLE and responsibilities of applicants/ delivery partners 17
ATTACHMENT B: Proponent Roles and Responsibilities 19
ATTACHMENT C: Application and decision process 20
ATTACHMENT D: Assessment process 21
Introduction
The Australian Government is providing national leadership on the challenges of meeting future demand for water in a drying climate. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan (the Basin Plan) delivers on the Australian Government’s commitment to restore the Murray-Darling Basin’s (the Basin) rivers and wetlands to health while supporting strong regional communities and sustainable food production.
The Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Program (SRWUIP) is a national programme investing in rural water use, management and efficiency, including improved water knowledge and market reform, and water purchase for the environment. It is the key mechanism to 'bridge the gap' to the sustainable diversion limits under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and consists of three main components: irrigation infrastructure projects, water purchase, and supply measures.
The On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program (the programme) is funded under SRWUIP and is aimed at assisting irrigators in the southern connected system of the Basin to modernise their on-farm irrigation infrastructure while sharing water savings between irrigators and the environment.
Programme objectives
The programme aims to support the implementation of on-farm irrigation infrastructure projects (sub-projects) to improve the efficiency and productivity of on-farm water use and management. Water savings generated by these sub-projects will be shared between proponents and the environment with at least 50 per cent of the water savings transferred to the Australian Government. These sub-projects will allow proponents to manage their water allocations more efficiently, thereby assisting dependent irrigation communities to adapt to a future of reduced water availability.
The water entitlements transferred to the Australian Government will be managed by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) and used for the purposes of protecting and restoring environmental assets.
Information on the Australian Government’s strategy to recover water for the environment is described in the Water Recovery Strategy (June 2014), which can be found at http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/water-recovery-strategy-murray-darling-basin.
Information on the progress of the Australian Government’s environmental water recovery to meet the Sustainable Diversion Limit can be found at http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/water/basin-plan/progress-water-recovery.
About the FUNDING guidelines
These funding guidelines (the guidelines) only apply to project proposals submitted under Round Five of the programme.
The guidelines provide information about the competitive grants assessment process of the programme. Applications to the programme are processed in two stages. Stage One is the merit selection of organisations to act as delivery partners. Successful Stage One applicants (delivery partners) will then progress to Stage Two and will be required to submit proponent (farm business level) sub-project information. Further details regarding the application process can be found at the ‘Application Process Overview’ section on page 6 of these guidelines.
These guidelines are designed to provide potential applicants with the information they will need to make an informed decision as to whether they should apply for funding. The guidelines also outline requirements and processes to assist applicants prepare their project proposal prior to submission to the Department.
The guidelines should be read in conjunction with all available information on funding Round Five including; the application form, sample funding agreement and other associated documentation, prior to making a decision on whether to submit an application for funding. This information can be found at http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/water/rural-water/sustainable-rural-water-use-and-infrastructure/farm-irrigation-efficiency.
It is recommended that applicants contact the Department if they are uncertain about aspects of the guidelines. Note that the Department will not help in the preparation of an application or provide funding for an applicant to prepare a Stage One application.
These guidelines are not intended to present all the terms and conditions that will govern the provision of funding under the programme. Successful applicants will be required to enter into a legally binding funding agreement with the Australian Government (see page 10 for further information).
Applicants must ensure they are using the latest, round specific version of the guidelines, application form and sample funding agreement, as these may be amended during the course of the programme.
Use of application forms from previous funding rounds will make Round Five applications ineligible.
Guidelines do not create legally binding rights or obligations.
Nothing in these guidelines or the application form is intended to create legally binding rights or obligations. The Parliamentary Secretary may vary the processes and/or timing set out in these guidelines and is not obliged to accept any application, regardless of whether it complies with these guidelines and the assessment process.
During its consideration of project applications the Department may clarify with applicants and/or seek external expert advice on any aspect of an application. To be eligible for consideration for funding applicants must demonstrate they meet the eligibility criteria to be a delivery partner (see page 3). However, due to the competitive nature of the programme, the submission of an application by an eligible organisation that meets the merit criteria does not guarantee that an offer of funding under the programme will be made.
The Parliamentary Secretary reserves the right to approve funding for a project as presented in the application form in whole or in part.
What has changed in this round of the
On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program?
Round Five of the programme will support projects located in the Southern Basin New South Wales zone of the Murray-Darling Basin. It will be the final round of the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Program funded under the SRWUIP.
In order to ‘bridge the gap’ to the sustainable diversion limits in the Basin Plan, only projects both constructed in, and able to transfer eligible surface water entitlements from the following eligible catchments will be eligible for funding: NSW Murray, Murrumbidgee and Lower Darling (i.e. the Darling river catchment south of Menindee Lakes) river catchments.
Eligible surface water entitlement and eligible catchment are defined terms.
There has been a change to the merit criteria for Stage One assessment from previous rounds. The former governance merit criteria have been sub-divided into project management and governance criteria and financial viability criteria.
As this is the final round of funding available to this programme under SRWUIP, potential delivery partners will be expected to have actual sub-projects agreed with irrigators (proponents) by the closing date of Stage One applications on 19 March 2015. The application period has been extended to allow for actual sub-projects to be developed with proponents.
There has been a change to the way the value for money criteria is assessed in regard to in-kind support. Total project costs will now only be comprised of the Australian Government investment and all proponent and other cash contributions.
In Round Five, projects that meet all of the merit criteria in an eligible catchment may be excluded during project ranking should volumetric limits for water recovery to bridge the gap to sustainable diversion limits in the eligible catchment be reached during assessment of applications for this programme.
The process of awarding funding will also change. A merit list of all eligible sub-project types will be determined in the Stage One assessment. Using this merit list, Stage One conditional funding will be awarded to successful delivery partners up to the limit of the available funding approved by the Parliamentary Secretary. In the Stage Two assessment, delivery partners will be required to provide information on each sub-project awarded conditional funding within 60 days. If the required information is not provided in this time or if all the sub-projects of the sub-project type fail to maintain the value for money assessment of Stage One, the conditional funding may be withdrawn and the next eligible sub-project type on the merit list will be given the opportunity to be funded.
Timing
Round Five (2014-19) of the programme is now open for the submission of Stage One applications. To be eligible for consideration, applications must be delivered to the Department by 4pm EDST on Thursday, 19 March 2015. Refer to the section on ‘Submitting an Application’ on page 9 for further details.
Available funding
The Australian Government has allocated $125 million for Round Five of the programme to projects that recover eligible surface water entitlement from the NSW Murray, Murrumbidgee and Lower Darling. $25million of this funding has become available through unspent funding redirected from Australian Government funded NSW State Priority Projects.
The allocated funding amounts are at the discretion of the Parliamentary Secretary and may be subject to change.
Subject to the funding allocated to this round of the programme, there is no maximum or minimum funding limit for overall delivery partner projects, sub-project types or individual sub-projects.
Funding arrangements under the programme
The programme will provide funding to delivery partners that are engaged as project managers for the Australian Government through a funding agreement to manage and implement proponent’s sub-projects.
During Stage One, applications are only being sought from organisations that wish to undertake the role of delivery partners. Applications are not open to individual irrigators (proponents) who must apply for funding through successful delivery partners during Stage Two.
Funding is not available to assist with the preparation of applications for Stage One. However, successful delivery partners can include costs associated with the preparation of their Stage Two application as part of (but not in addition to) their claim for administration and project management costs.
Once a funding agreement is signed with a delivery partner, an initial payment of up to eightpercent of the funding agreement project value for the sub-project works can be made to the delivery partner for administration and project management costs.
Australian Government funding cannot be used by delivery partners or proponents to purchase water entitlements or allocations.
Who is eligible to be a delivery partner?
Stage One applications are being sought from organisations that wish to undertake the role of a delivery partner. Delivery partners will have a critical role in designing and managing a project that brings together a number of proponent sub-projects designed to improve on-farm irrigation efficiency and transfer a share of the water savings generated through these proponent sub-projects to the Australian Government. In Stage One applications delivery partners must also outline how their selected proponent sub-projects will be evaluated and managed and must estimate the volume of water entitlements that will be available for transfer to the Australian Government.
Delivery partner applicants under the programme must meet the following eligibility requirements:
ü An entity with direct and demonstrable links to eligible irrigators in the Southern Basin NSW zone such as, but not limited to:
o an Irrigation Infrastructure Operator
o a Catchment Management Authority
o a commodity or agricultural industry group
o a regional irrigation body.
ü Able to demonstrate it has the authority under organisational governance arrangements to be the lead organisation responsible for the delivery partner project and be able to enter into contractual arrangements with others to implement the project.
ü Financially viable as demonstrated through the provision of financial statements and related documents.
ü A legal entity capable of entering into a funding agreement, for the term of the agreement, with the Australian Government (note: unincorporated associations are not eligible).