Ruataniwha makes Canterbury irrigators envious
With the chair of Mid-Canterbury’s BCI scheme envious of the Ruataniwha Dam site, Federated Farmers believes the
momentum is back with the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme, with ‘decision day’ looming by Christmas.
“Tuesday’s event with Irrigation NZ was bang on and just what farmers needed. It was bigger than what I expected,” says
Will Foley, Federated Farmers Hawke’s Bay.
“I can also tell the media they undercooked attendance as we counted 300, since those seated upstairs in Waipawa’s
Municipal Theatre were missed out in the tally.
“I’ve got a feeling that momentum is back with the scheme and we thank FMG and Westpac for their help.
“We seem to have a lot of people who don’t live or farm in Hawke’s Bay, telling us what to do. One critic I understand
shared the ride up from Wellington with Fish & Game’s Bryce Johnson, is now citing numbers I just don’t recognise.
“Our event on Tuesday was free of spin because both Nick Webster, a farmer in the North Otago Irrigation Company scheme
and Rab McDowell, the chair of Mid-Canterbury’s BCI scheme, took people through water storage and irrigation warts and
all.
“There were questions on the environment but I think the South Island boys covered that off very well. The technology of
precision water use and precision agriculture is fast moving so a problem today could be an advantage tomorrow.
“I was taken by how the science of water delivery has created new industries where water is being used. That’s what the
regional economic development doctor could prescribe here.
“As Duncan Garner said on RadioLive yesterday after interviewing me, “Hawke’s Bay needs this but if you look at what’s
happening in Mid-Canterbury and I was lucky enough to jump in a chopper last week and have a really good look at their
irrigation and I know it sounds boring, but irrigation is water and water means sustenance and futures and things like
that. You should see what they’ve done in Mid-Canterbury and no doubt they’re getting all the advice. The people in
Hawke’s Bay from those in Mid-Canterbury.”
“Some of the best news was hearing how Rab McDowell, Mid-Canterbury’s BCI scheme chair, is envious of the Ruataniwha Dam
site.
“I didn’t know this before he spoke, but Rab visited the site last year. He said it’s a “brilliant location” because it
doesn’t need good quality land to be sacrificed unlike in Mid-Canterbury. That was music to my ears.
“The crucial takeaway was that with the all up water price we’re looking at for Ruataniwha, things still stack up for
farmers. I am hoping to lay my hands on their presentations so that we can share them wider.
“Meanwhile, a 2014 presentation by Nicky Hyslop on a sheep, beef and cropping farm in South Canterbury’s Opuha Scheme, found that farm had increased their CW/ha for meat and wool by more than 2.5 times and lifted grain production by 40
percent.
“Not only that, but with a more profitable business they’re annual tax contribution was $60-$100,000, as opposed to
$0-$15,000 pre-irrigation. If that’s not good news, I don’t know what is,” Mr Foley concluded.
ends