root zone water table

Agricultural exports significant to NZ’s balance sheet

Reliable & Quality supply

needed to maintain market entry Increasing input costs make production high risk without certainty

root zone water table Irrigation = Tool for Better Risk Management

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Opuha 2004/05 – 16,000ha

Gross Farm Revenue x2.74 ($900 - $2,100/ha) Farm Expenditure x2.33 ($644 - $1,503/ha) Cash Farm Surplus x2.74 ($210 - $570/ha) Employment x2.6 (74 – 192)    Whole Community: $41 million value added per year 480 FTE’s jobs Younger & better educated

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NOIC 2009/10 – 10,000ha

Gross Farm Revenue x3.1 ($21million - $65million) Farm Expenditure x3.1 ($13million - $43million) – most flows to local economy Cash Farm Surplus x3.1 ($7million - $22million) Employment x2.1 (71 147 FTE’s) direct Farmers spent $62million in conversion – most flows to local economy

  More than $$$’s...... but they are the enabler 

Prosperity = Opportunity

Social (community)  resilience  quality of service provision Recreation   New opportunities improvements to existing Cultural / Environmental  mitigation  restoration

Social (community)  direct property loss Recreation  someone’s favourite swim hole / fishing spot Cultural / Environmental   Direct habitat Indirect impacts – water quality It’s about establishing a ‘framework’ (CWMS targets) and testing options Informing the politics and emotion

More complex than just use........ Need to consider • Supply (take characteristics) • Distribution (how gets to farm) • Use (how applied)

Many definitions (over 40)………    Technical (how much used) Allocative / Economic – Highest value achieved (society) Dynamic – Adjusting to above over time (flexibility) Within Technical  Production  Hydrological   Profitability Energy……….

But all easier said than done!!!

Loss component

Leaking pipes Evaporation in the air Wind blowing water off target (drift) Interception (canopy losses) Surface runoff (spray irrigation)

Uneven application and/or excessive application depths and rates Range

0-10% 0-10% 0-20% 0-10% 0-10%

5 - 80% Typical

0-1% <3% <5% <5% <2%

5 - 30%

Lincoln Environmental Data

Ineffective Inefficient

Canterbury, Hawke’s Bay & Marlborough Solid Set Rotating Boom Fixed Boom Travelling Gun Centre Pivot Linear Move *Multiple sprayline Side Roll Drip Microspray Bubbler Low Head Basin Paddy Basin Border Strip Furrow Modern Furrow 0 20 40 60 percent efficiency From A.J. Clemmens 80 100

Reliability = Continuity of Supply

Measured by level of drought / security High reliability usually requires a ‘storage’   Reservoirs / dams Groundwater

Achieving ‘Good Management Practice’ more complex than on-farm practices

Reliability of supply – key driver and an enabler

Also Drives Land Use (Risk Management)

Pastoral low reliability = OK

Alternative easy (import feed / dry-off)

Arable & Horticulture = Higher Reliability

No or reduced yield

Water Infrastructure (storage) NOT a reward ........... it’s essential to the Solution Uncertainty = ‘Just in Case’ management

but

Certainty = ‘Just in Time’ management Optimal water use = Optimal environmental performance Less water per hectare, less storage required and less losses (leaching) =

Improved Water Quality

Reliability System Linkages

Security and Certainty

(Duration of right coupled with sureness of future policy goalposts) )

Reliability

(Multi-purpose water storage)

Crop Diversity & Added Value

(Increased range of crops grown & more local processing)

Investment - Water Use Efficiency

(Efficient distribution and application systems coupled with ‘just in time’ management)

Resilient Communities

(Diverse local economy & greater prosperity)

Reduced Energy

(Distribution and application system optimisation)

Environmental Performance

(Minimise cumulative effects - water use and nutrient losses)

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Design Installation Evaluation

GMP Irrigation

Operation Deliver ‘right amount’ to farm so farmer can deliver the ‘right amount’ at the ‘right time’

Tensiometers

Choices in Perspective

C knowledge systems, local governance systems Public participation , co-management , motivation, ethical/value systems B A Economic instruments, incentivise desired outcome thru ‘rational choice’ market models Regulate activities, monitor & control Biophysical and social resilience and capacities - foresee, buffer, adapt, & shape/vision a future; innovative and initiating cultures Scenario analysis; adaptive management; monitoring Regulate effects (set ‘outcome’ standards), monitor, top-down ‘educate’ Certain/Regular/Predictable Increasing Uncertainty/Irregularity

What is Audited Self-Management

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Transfer of day-to-day resource management responsibilities to users, under agreed terms (self management) and subject to an accountability (audit) process’

Much Confusion Around ASM – But we have ventured into the space informally and formally

The Drivers

• Harnesses community energy and knowledge • Align regulatory with market compliance and farm management needs • Drives cost efficiencies - market for regulatory & streamlines multiple needs • Decrease regulatory cost to general rate payer • More effective management comes through partnership (compared to top down enforcement) • NZ environment and economy needs optimal resource management……..

INZ Projects

Irrigator User Groups • Days of Individual consent holder numbered • Future = catchment / zonal based management • Prize = better environmental management ASM for Rakaia-Selwyn • Cost efficiencies • Knowledge systems • Better environmental management • More effective use of available resource

• • • • • • • Precision Resource Information Linking of Supply & Demand Real-time Management Incorporation of Forecasting (Resource Availability) Reliable Supply Efficient Use – Precision Irrigation Environmental Outcomes Achieved