The Wimmera Mallee open earthen channel system ran from the Grampians ranges south of Horsham, north beyond Ouyen, and east to the Murray River. Historially the 17,500 kilometre channel system annually supplied water to 36 towns and filled 22,000 farm dams across the region.

High levels of evaporation and seepage from the channel system were key motivators for the regional push for a piped supply system, which led to the construction of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project. This $688 million project saw the channel system replaced by a 8,800 kilometre piped water supply system in early 2010. 

Channel decommissioning