Book Bundle

Get the best collection of books about the waterways of the Wimmera Mallee region with this unique two-book bundle, featuring:

• Waters of the Wimmera by Bob McIlvena
• Pipe Dreams by Rhona Van Veldhuisen 

Valued at $100 AUD

Waters of the Wimmera by Bob McIlvena

Historian Bob McIlvena continues his lifelong exploration of the Wimmera-Mallee's water story in this remarkable sequel to Pipe Dreams. Drawing on more than sixty years of personal experience and meticulour research, Waters of the Wimmera traces the evolution of water supply and management across western Victoria, Australia from the 1830s to 2020s.

The book charts the transformation of a dry inland landscape into a thriving agricultural region through the vision, ingenuity and determination of those who built and maintained its vast network of reservoirs, channels and pipelines. It captures the trumps, challenges and milestones that defined more than a century of progress and perserverance.

Richly detailed and authoritative, Waters of the Wimmera stands as both a tribute to the pioneers who shaped the region's water legacy and an invaluable record for anyone interested in the social, environmental and engineering history of the Wimmera-Mallee.

"Waters of the Wimmera" is more than a history book; it is a tribute to the people who engineered a future for the region. This book offers a definitive look at:

• The construction of the world's largest open channel system.
• The transition to the modern pipeline network.
• The struggle and triumph of water management in a dry land.

As Bob says, understanding this history is "imperative." Through his eyes, we can finally see where we have been, so we can better understand where we are going.

Pipe Dreams by Rhona Van Veldhuisen

Historian Bob Mcllvena has recorded the heroic work of the people whose vision, determination and hard work in securing an assured water supply helped open up the Wimmera-Mallee.

His monumental chronology of the domestic and stock water supply, 1836 to 1997, resulted from many years of painstaking research, some of it overseas. By the end of 1997 he had compiled 1000 pages of manuscript of history including 400 photographs. His wife Ercil typed the hand-written notes.

Author Rhona Van Veldhuisen brings the story together in this readable and authoritative real-life drama which starts with the earliest days of exploration and settlement in Western Victoria.

Students of Australian history will find this book invaluable to their studies; people who like to indulge their passion for a 'good read' will find it enchanting and hard to put down.

Today, the Wimmera Mallee Water system supplies 5000 farms and 50 towns in a region spanning the Grampians to the Murray River in the north, west to the South Australian border and east to the Avoca River. The system distributes water from 12 reservoirs through 17,000 kilometres of channels.

Chapters

• Foreword V
• Acknowledgments vii
• List of illustrations xiii
• Introduction
• Chapter One: A St Patrick's Day Farewell
• Chapter Two: The Luck of the Irish
• Chapter Three: The Politics of
• Permanency
• Chapter Four: Golden Dreams and
• Uncertain Death
• Chapter Five: The Invaders
• Chapter Six: The Land Crying, Children Dying
• Chapter Seven: The Engineer-Dreamer
• Chapter Eight: The Heartland Consolidates
• Chapter Nine: The Irrigators
• Chapter Ten: Breach of Trust
• Chapter Eleven: Unity
• Chapter Twelve: The Call of the Old Country
• Chapter Thirteen: Ghosts of the Past
• Chapter Fourteen: Empty Pockets and Empty Dams
• Chapter Fitteen: The Bridge of Sighs
• Chapter Sixteen: The Drifting Sands of War
• Chapter Seventeen: The Return
• Chapter Eighteen: The Plastic Revolution
• Chapter Nineteen: Pipe Dreaming 1 - The Scene is Set
• Chapter Twenty: Pipe-Dreaming 2 - Victory
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Index

Waters of the Wimmera by Bob McIlvena

Publisher: North West Press, 2025

ISBN: 1763622703, 9781763622708

Type: Hardcover

Has dust cover? Yes

Height 250mm

Width: 190mm

Depth: 40mm

Subjects: Australian History, Nature

Pipe Dreams by Rhona Van Veldhuisen

ISBN: 0646415905, 9780646415901

Type: Hardcover

Has dust cover? Yes

Height 255mm

Width: 180mm

Depth: 20mm

Weight: 755g

Subjects: Australian History, Nature

Pages: 264