VICFarming
Mildura
A sheep station reinvented with pumps and orchards.
1887Irrigation settlement established
WHAT STARTED IT
The Chaffey brothers chose Mildura for an irrigation colony after Alfred Deakin investigated Californian irrigation. Pumping Murray water onto dry land offered an alternative to grazing, with small irrigated holdings and a planned town supplying them.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The settlement attracted fruit growers and later soldier settlers and migrants with horticultural skills. Its orchards and vineyards helped turn Sunraysia into a major producing district. Mildura gained city status in 1937.
TURNING POINTS
1887The irrigation settlement is established.
1937Mildura becomes a city.
2013–14The 1.5-megawatt Mildura solar demonstration opens in July 2013; the proposed 100-megawatt expansion is suspended after funding deeds end in August 2014.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A regional centre for irrigated horticulture, transport and river tourism. Water remains central to the landscape and its economy.