Masterton councillor says irrigation a must

The flow-on effects of a successful irrigation scheme in the South Island has seen unemployment in the Ashburton district drop to a mere 0.08 per cent, says farmer and Masterton District councillor David Holmes.

Mr Holmes was part of a Wairarapa Regional Irrigation Trust team that has just returned from a fact-finding trip to Mid and South Canterbury and has returned convinced Wairarapa needs to pursue an irrigation scheme if it wants to make any real progress as a district.

Among those in the team that headed south were fellow Masterton District councillors Graham McClymont, Pip Hannon and Chris Peterson and Carterton District councillor Jill Greathead.

Mr Holmes said they were able to see the massive advantages a top flight irrigation scheme had brought to those southern communities.

"In Ashburton unemployment has fallen to 0.08 per cent and this is largely credited to the irrigation scheme.

"Dairying has become a huge industry there, as has the small seeds industry.

"Ashburton is now the biggest producer of carrot seed in the world," he said.

Mr Holmes said not only has irrigation brought security for the farmers, the creation of jobs has alleviated many social problems in the towns, including bringing crime rates down to a "realistic level".

"This trip has really fired me up," he said. "I could hardly believe what is happening down there and listening to Ashburton mayor Angus McKay and his councillors talking with such confidence about the future of their area."

Mr Holmes said the emphasis was on harvesting water and storing it at high altitude so it can be gravity-fed to lower reaches, linked with incentives to move away from using underground bores, thus saving the aquifer.

"They are also encouraging farmers to pipe the irrigation water rather than use open channels. This cuts evaporation and makes for a cleaner environment."

Canterbury farmers were closely monitored for the level of nutrients in their soil.

"The farmers themselves want to get it right."

Mr Holmes said in Ashburton border dyke irrigation is being phased out with farmers utilising spray irrigation.

He said there was a successful formula in place in the South Island areas the team visited to provide compensation for land taken to build irrigation dams, which could work just as well in Wairarapa.

"We cannot afford to stand still," he said.

"We have got to move on irrigation in order to survive as a whole community."