FARMERS have been handed a new tool to help reduce water lost to evaporation from Queensland's more than 243,000 farm dams.
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Speaking at the Regional Community Forum in Charters Towers, Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the EvapAdvisor website would help farmers reduce water losses.
"EvapAdvisor is a free tool that gives farmers access to the latest rainfall and evaporation data from the Bureau of Meteorology to help determine if water storage covers makes economic sense," Mr Stewart said.
Evaporation can result in the loss of significant amounts of water, as high as 3000mm a year in Queensland, and with changes in Queensland's climate this number was expected to rise.
Although numerous evaporation reduction methods exist, adoption in Queensland is relatively low.
At least half of Queensland's stored water is held in dams small enough to benefit from shade covers, floating covers or, potentially, chemical applications.
Mr Stewart said the department has invested $160,000 to date through the Natural Resources Investment Program in a partnership with the University of Southern Queensland to research and develop EvapAdvisor.
"While we can't make it rain it is important that we do everything we can to help dam owners conserve water," Mr Stewart said.
"The Queensland Government has been working closely with leading scientists from the University of Southern Queensland to make sure dam owners have the right data to make an informed decision."
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