Water challenges grow in importance

Murray Smith will share his experience.

A conference in Napier next week is being seen as a milestone in the irrigation debate.

The Irrigation New Zealand conference will be held in Napier's War Memorial Conference Centre, with the attendance of more than 300 people indicating the importance of the event.

With issues of irrigation and water storage already on the boil, the conference comes just days after a United Nations report on climate change predicted a drier and more volatile environment for farmers in New Zealand, which for some is highlighted by the second successive drought for some farmers in the central North Island.

"All this points to the need to fast-track water storage and invest in irrigation infrastructure," said a conference organiser's representative.

With Hawke's Bay's Ruataniwha project having lost prospective backer TrustPower, there will be particular interest in the conference appearance of the principal engineer for GHD, the company linked to the design of the project.

He is Murray Smith, who as CEO of the Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project (NVIRP) led the largest irrigation modernisation project in Australia's history ($2.2 billion investment).

Previously as CEO of Coleambally Irrigation (Australia's third-largest private irrigation company), he devised and implemented a strategic direction for the irrigation district which saw it set the new world benchmark for water delivery efficiency and a range of other environmental performance outcomes.

"It is worth noting that 40 per cent of the world's food comes from just 18 per cent [275 million hectares] of global crop land that is irrigated," he says.

"To respond to the food security challenge, or optimise the market opportunity presented, irrigated agriculture will need to play a lead role in terms of area of production and production efficiency," he says.

"Set against this backdrop we have the Australian Government looking to double agriculture production and the New Zealand government challenging the agricultural sector to lift food and agricultural exports from $25 billion to $60 billion by 2025."

"In Australia we have what is known as 'urban drift', as many of our regional communities experience population decline and a flow-on reduction in regional community services," he says.

"I suspect New Zealand has similar experiences as jobs and people, more often young people, are drawn to major urban centres."