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First irrigation settlement in Australia
The first irrigation settlement in Australia was Renmark, in South Australia’s
Riverland district. The Chaffey brothers, George and William, Canadians
who had achieved much success in establishing irrigation settlements
in California, established Renmark in 1887. The Chaffeys had been invited
to set up similar schemes in along the River Murray by the Victorian
parliamentarian Alfred Deakin (later to become Australia’s second
prime minister). The Victorians stalled in their negotiations with the
brothers, however, and the South Australian government enticed them to
Renmark instead. The Chaffey’s original irrigation plan created
open channels to carry the water to the land but in 1959 these were converted
to underground pipelines. The Chaffey brothers’ enterprise folded
in 1893 and the Renmark Irrigation Trust was created to administer the
irrigation works.
Further reading
Grosvenor, G. Arch. Red mud to green oasis, [Richmond, SA]: Raphael Arts for Corporation of Town of Renmark, 1979.
Johnson, YM. Historic Renmark, established 1887, Renmark, SA: YM Gurr, 1999.
Morrison, AD. Chaffey bros. life history: founders of Renmark and Mildura Irrigation Settlements, [Renmark, S. Aust.]: National Trust of South Australia, Renmark Branch, [1974?].
Wells, Syd. Paddlesteamers to cornucopia: the Renmark-Mildura experiment of 1887, Renmark [SA]: The Murray Pioneer, [1986].
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