Marlborough residents design irrigation scheme

A group of Marlborough residents have found their own solution to the drought that plagues the Seddon area, south of Blenheim, every year - they have funded, researched and designed their own irrigation scheme.

Blind River Irrigation Scheme chairman Graham Hewett said he began talking to concerned farmers and growers in December 2002 about solutions to the area's water problem.

The end result is a scheme with 22 km of pipes pumping water from the Awatere River to around 16,000ha of land.