Farmer Bill Haw talks to Robyn Ballinger about accessing a water supply on his farm in the Terricks in northern Victoria.

Like other Victorian rural areas, the rural population of the Patho Plains is decreasing. When landowners move out of the district, they take a wealth of historical knowledge and experience with them.

The Patho Plains Oral History Project was developed to capture the historical knowledge of farmers and landowners to better understand the changing landscape. These interviews and photographs form part of that project.

Further Information

Patho Plains Oral History interview excerpt 7: Bill Haw

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

BILL HAW: I can understand it - my dad used to get excited when the water was running. It was sort of, you know... And I suppose it was a big thing to have water. You know, like, I remember when we were kids out at the farm. We had a rainwater tank that got a dead possum in it and, you know, you'd think, well, if it was here now, you'd drain the tank out and what have you, but, no, Dad got the possum out and then we just carried on as normal.

ROBIN BALLINGER: Now that's great, because that was gonna lead me to the next question about water. Now obviously if your dad's gonna let you drink water with a possum that's been in it, it must've been a continual issue, was it?

BILL: Yeah, yeah, like, water must've been the main thing back there in... I don't know when these, as I say, first scheme first came through. It was, you know, it could've been in the '30s or something like that. But, yeah, water must have been the biggest issue. Like, there was obviously times when there was plenty of it, but, yeah, there was times when it must have been pretty scarce too. On one of our blocks here, we call it the Well Paddock. Where's... Where's... (Indistinct)? Just here, next to Mur... Yeah, just in here, actually.

ROBIN: A lot in '72?

BILL: We call it the Well Paddock. And about 18ft down, there was a spring. Dad said it only made about 100 gallons a day. But they used to, in the dry times, they'd bucket up water out of this well. I think they actually put a windmill on it as well. I've seen the windmill fallen over, but I don't remember it working. And it was beautiful water, you could drink it...

ROBYN: Gee, that must've been a saviour at times.

BILL: Yeah, and they had a little old square tank there that they'd fill it up 100 gallons and then cart that back to the house and use it as drinking water, so, yeah, look, it... And there was a few of those roundabout, I believe, that, you know, in dry times, like, the neighbours would all cart water out of it, as well. Not out of this one, but there was another one over further, so, yeah, water would've been possibly one of the big issues. Well, always has been and it's probably always going to be, but, yeah, it was a big issue. But with our dam-filling scheme, we certainly weren't left high and dry there - we've always had water.