Two new irrigation champions recognised

Two New Zealand irrigation champions have been recognised with the awarding of the Ron Cocks Memorial Award to South Canterbury’s Robin Murphy and Central Otago’s Tony Banks.

Both men’s achievements were celebrated at IrrigationNZ’s biennial conference dinner last night in Oamaru. The event has drawn more than 400 people to the Waitaki District this week to tour local irrigation infrastructure, listen to global guest speakers address irrigation issues, attend technical workshops and view an industry expo with 52 exhibitors.

The former chairman of the Earnscleugh Irrigation Company, Tony Banks, was described as an outstanding leader in delivering the benefits of water to Central Otago. Tony has given 31 years of service to the scheme; more than half his working life and all in a voluntary capacity. For much of that period he has also been a member of the Otago Water Resource Users Group (OWRUG) and for 18 years has been a director of the Fraser Dam Company, the benefits of which flow to four Central Otago irrigation schemes. Tony has also contributed 15 years as a director of the Clutha Pipeline Company which benefits Earnscleugh Irrigation Company and Contact Energy.

In 1985, as an orchard owner, he was asked to join the Earnscleugh Irrigation committee and in 1990 was appointed chairman commenting "You can't complain about your treatment if you're not taking part " When the government decided to divest itself of irrigation schemes in the late 1980s, Tony was part of Earnscleugh's negotiating team. His efforts ensured local irrigators walked away with not only plentiful water but sufficient funds to upgrade and modernise the scheme's infrastructure.

"That was the bones of upgrading our scheme to ensure regular and reliable supply. Now it's probably the best supply in the country. If we can't get water out of Lake Dunstan there's also going to be a lot of lights out across the country"

Many Central Otago communities wouldn't have survived without water and Tony says the benefits are wider than economics. "There's no doubt that locking in supplementary water for the Fraser River has stopped it from running dry. It is now an attractive river with an improved fishery and good spawning grounds. The improvements have been so noticeable we now only need five yearly environmental reports, instead of annual.”

Tony is also proud of the fact the Earnscleugh Irrigation Company has operated in a prudent manner using the initial capital outlay from the Crown to fund infrastructural costs so irrigators are only being charged running costs.

Of the Ron Cocks Memorial Award Tony says he sees it as recognition of the wider community's efforts to secure water.

“That's really how I look at it. There's a team of people and a lot of work behind this. I see the Ron Cocks award as a reward for the wider team"

The joint recipient of the Ron Cocks Memorial Award is Robin Murphy. The Glenavy dairy farmer has been a driving force behind irrigation development, not only for his scheme, but for the benefit of the wider South Canterbury region.

The long standing chairman since 1993 has championed and overseen several projects which have improved the viability and reach of the Morven Glenavy Ikawai Irrigation Scheme. He is particularly proud of the recent commissioning of the $32million Waihao Downs project. Morven Glenavy Ikawai merged with Waihao Downs in July 2014, with work commencing on the latter scheme in January 2015 with the build complete and water ready to flow late March 2016.

A passion for irrigation has seen him act not only as Chairman for Morven Glenavy Ikawai with the support of a progressive board and staff, but until recently Robin’s dedication extended to voluntary management of the company prior to the appointment of General Manager Craig Evans.

A firm believer in the need to address environmental issues early on, when the scheme applied for consent for the northern extension, securing an environmental flow for the Waihao River was seen as vital. Morven Glenavy Ikawai started testing water quality before it was required to under their consent. “Because we believe having information is important. Data is crucial.”

Developing an environmental strategy and putting farm environment plans in place for all shareholders proved to be an advantage under Environment Canterbury’s new Land and Water Plan requirements.

“The farm environment plan system to me has been absolutely tremendous. We acknowledge we haven’t got everything right but they’re great assets to have as we go into nutrient planning.”

Robin’s highlights of the past few decades include helping compile the scheme’s history for the book “Water Gives Life” published in October 2014. Opening new offices in Glenavy and employing environmental manager Judith Neilson in 2014 and more recently General Manager Craig Evans were also milestones for the scheme.

Robin’s commitment to irrigation has taken him away from home regularly and he acknowledges the support wife May and son Bruce have provided. “I really want to thank them. I have always believed you need to be involved in your industry.”

ENDS

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