Irrigation NZ will be going on the road in October to hold workshops around the country about developing and managing quality irrigation systems.
A Hawke's Bay workshop in the series Making Irrigation Pay - Reducing Your Energy Bill, will be held on October 8 from 1pm-5pm, at the Green Shed, Ruahapia Rd,
near Hastings.
It will be a a free workshop supported locally by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council to reinforce its focus on water management and irrigation efficiency.
The focus will be on good design, maintenance and evaluation of systems.
Water and energy efficiency is a key cost factor for irrigators and understanding pump efficiency and scheduling are important elements of the workshop, the regional council says.
The costs of poor design will be reflected in higher energy and labour costs, but the big cost is in lost production.
The workshop will be a chance to look at case studies that are relevant to Hawke's Bay and participants are being asked to take their own irrigation system data to the workshop for assessment.
The programme has been developed by Irrigation NZ with support from EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority). AGMARDT, Fonterra, the Foundation for Arable Research, Sustainable Wine Growers and Hawke's Bay Regional Council are sponsors for the workshop.
Irrigators, or those interested in irrigation, can register for the workshop at waterevents@hbrc.govt.nz or phone Sally 06 833 8075 by October5.
