Thursday, 17th May 2012
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| Huge economic spinoffs from water storage |
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By Linda Clarke February 24, 2012
But for the project to move to consent stage, it needs a variation to the Rakaia River Water Conservation Order. A panel of three commissioners will decide if that can happen. Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR) CEO Ben Curry said the commissioners needed to look no further than the 70-year-old RDR to see the economic and social benefits of irrigation. The RDR takes water from the Rangitata and South Ashburton rivers and delivers it to two power stations and farmers irrigating 94,000ha. Farm produce linked to the RDR accounted for 25 per cent of Ashburton District's GDP, he said. In 2005, the district's GDP was $946m, with some $236.5m linked directly to the activities of the RDR. Mr Curry said there would be economic impacts on the local economy during construction stage of TrustPower's Lake Coleridge Project with $974m being spent over seven years in the set-up stage. "The RDR also provides a good example of how infrastructure systems can be improved and adapted to respond to the environment." The canal built during the Depression years was a remarkable feat of engineering, he said. The RDR management company is in full support of the application to vary the water conservation order "and considers that the changes will result in significant social and economic benefits for the Canterbury region and for New Zealand". Methven arable farmer John Wright told the commissioners yesterday that using Lake Coleridge to store water would increase the reliability of water to farmers with consents to irrigate, encouraging them to intensify into high value seed crops, vegetable crops, intensive lamb finishing or dairying. Farmers on the Barrhill Chertsey irrigation Scheme, which was realised with Mr Wright at the helm after a generation of discussion, would be among the first to take up storage contracts. Mr Wright said farmers would move to irrigating from a "just in case" mentality to a "just in time" philosophy, using centre pivot and lateral irrigation technology to manage soil moisture more efficiently. The wheat-grower gave a quick 101 tutorial on irrigation to the commissioners, who had questioned why farmers irrigated on hot windy days when it appeared water disappeared before it hit the ground. "The whole basis of irrigation is that it is designed to replace water that is lost from evapotranspiration from the soil and the plants, and that ranges from 0-10mm a day. Most systems in Canterbury are designed to deliver 3.5mm-5mm a day. Those systems barely keep up on the worst days but easily keep up on the low days. "If were was an expectation that it be applied only 12 hours a day that infrastructure would need to double in size, electricity networks would have to double in size. "It is not practical." Mr Wright said farmers could vary the droplet size of water sprayed from irrigators to ensure it hit the ground. TrustPower has now put its case to the commissioners, who will hear from 17 individuals in opposition during the next few weeks. TrustPower counsel Bal Matheson said the power generator and retailer stood by its experts, who said the outstanding values and characteristics of the unique braided river would be protected. "There will be slightly less water in the river at some times, and slightly less in one reach, but overall the outstanding values protected at the time (the water conservation order was made) will continue to be protected."
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