Nurturing dreams down on the farm

Irrigation is a must to grow grass and feed the dairy herd on Ian Minson's rain-starved Canterbury farm. Picture / Simon Baker

Ian Minson's livelihood hinges on water.

In the harsh, dry Canterbury climate, rain is not enough to keep his family's multi-million-dollar dairy farming dream alive. Without access to extra water for irrigation, not enough grass will grow on his farmland at Burnham and his cows cannot be fed to supply the milk to make the money.

"It's vital as far as we are concerned. If we choose to dairy [farm] this block, without a [water] consent, it is not practical. If we wanted to continue dairying, we would have to sell."

That is why Mr Minson is concerned about Government plans to intervene in freshwater supply.

Amid fears about depleted rivers and streams and dwindling underground supplies, Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton announced last week the Government would be developing a national plan for water use.

Mr Anderton says water is already over-allocated in the province Mr Minson lives in.

"We do have big problems and we have to face up to them. The Government is there to help solve them. Everybody has to look in the mirror and ask themselves the same question about how much water they are using. If everyone takes the view 'what about me?' it becomes the law of the jungle."

Irrigation specialist Tony Davoren says it is significant that the Government has realised how pressing the water issue is, particularly for Canterbury, the biggest water user.

"The fact they are prepared to take a role and hopefully put more resources into it is very encouraging. My feeling is that this is such a huge issue, some of it is beyond the regions. I hope we are going to see some action," Mr Davoren says.

"What I hope it doesn't turn into is a witch hunt against irrigation."

So many industries were "utterly dependent" on irrigation.

"Everything from bread to potatoes to wine, milk, meat. As consumers, you consider frozen vegetables. They can't be grown without irrigation water."

Mr Minson argues that irrigation reinvigorates towns and provides a huge number of jobs.

His family are seeking approval to draw 210 litres of water a second from underground water supplies to irrigate the 372-hectare farm he shares with his youngest son.

He currently is allowed to use only 33 litres a second, which is nowhere near enough.

"Basically, it's all about growing grass. On this sort of country you might grow 5000 kilograms of dry matter a hectare. Now we have got the potential, with water, to get that to 20,000. So you can see we can grow that much more grass, and we can control when it grows, too."

Applying for consent to take more water is an expensive business.

The basic cost of applying for a water consent is about $3500, while an initial hearing before commissioners will cost the Minsons about $7000.

If they fail, there is the further cost of appealing the decision. Then there is the matter of drilling into the ground to get the water.

"It's an awfully large investment. We certainly don't like to see streams depleted and we certainly don't like seeing peoples' wells becoming dry ... But we think we have got quite a robust system to apply to use the water, and we are just going through an extraordinarily dry period."

Close monitoring meant they could never get away with over-use.

"If you haven't got a consent and you're irrigating, you're likely to get caught. We have got lifestyle [block] people around us and they watch every move we make."


Managing Water:

* The Government has announced it is stepping in to manage the country's freshwater supplies.
* Water use is not charged for, but the Government is proposing recovery of costs to provide the water.
* Irrigation accounts for nearly 80 per cent of all water allocated in New Zealand. About 70 per cent of all irrigation in New Zealand is in Canterbury.