Opinion divided on irrigation funding cuts
Environmentalists are welcoming the coalition Government’s announcement it will be winding back irrigation scheme funding, but the news hasn’t gone down so well in the farming and irrigation sector.
This week the Government announced it had begun winding down public funding for large-scale irrigation through Crown Irrigation Investments Limited (CIIL), in line with the Coalition Agreement and the Confidence and Supply Agreement.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said it represented a shift in priorities to the previous Government.
“Large-scale private irrigation schemes should be economically viable on their own, without requiring significant public financing.
“We must also be mindful of the potential for large-scale irrigation to lead to intensive farming practices which may contribute to adverse environmental outcomes.”
While funding commitments for three schemes would be honoured, Crown funding would not be available for other schemes including the Hurunui Water Project and the Hunter Downs Irrigation Scheme.
The announcement was proclaimed a victory for the country’s rivers by Forest & Bird, whose successful Supreme Court challenge to the Department of Conservation on a land swap scuttled the Ruataniwha dam project.
Forest & Bird’s freshwater advocate Annabeth Cohen said dams wreaked havoc on the natural environment – reducing river flows, affecting habitat for native species, and inevitably, leading to more intensive farming in the surrounding area and increased pollution.
“The hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that have been going into irrigation schemes would be better spent helping farmers move to sustainable farming systems,” she said.
Federated Farmers’ Hawke’s Bay president Will Foley said the news was disappointing albeit not surprising given the Government had signalled such a move before elected.
“It’s disappointing that they talk about supporting the regional economy but we have also seen that things like roading policies are taking more away from the regions and putting it into Auckland.”
Making the announcement, Mr Robertson said smaller-scale, locally run and environmentally sustainable water storage projects could be considered on a case-bycase basis through the Provincial Growth Fund. Smaller on-farm schemes, however, were expensive — good for those who could afford them, but not within everyone’s reach, both in terms of cost and having the right location and conditions to build, Mr Foley said.
He did not hold out much hope that funding could be secured through the provincial fund.
“We have just got to hope that New Zealand First pulls a bit of weight, as this seems to be where the main support for the regions is coming from.”
Wairarapa National MP Alastair Scott said there were a lot of benefits to largerscale water storage and associated irrigation in rural communities, both economic and environmental in terms of water quality.
He said on-farm water storage was inefficient.
“Why would you have 20 additional water storage units when you can have one big one — this is going to drive people to build small, inefficient water storage systems on their own properties using existing water takes, and it will only be for the farmers’ own benefit.”
Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Andrew Curtis said it was an opportunity lost in terms of the regional economy and potential growth.
“The understanding from this Government was that it was all about local communities and making things happen in the regions.
“Over the past summer we have experienced droughts followed by unprecedented wet conditions. This is indicative of the climate change impacts we can expect to see in the future.
“It is critical for rural east coast farming communities to have access to a reliable water supply in order to help them manage through these effects.”
Meanwhile Greenpeace was also celebrating what it called a win for the country’s rivers, which would mean less intensive dairy expansion, less pollution in the rivers and fewer agricultural emissions.
“What the world needs more than ever is a shift to regenerative farming to provide food and nutrition into the future without destroying our rivers and our climate.
‘‘We hope to see the new Government invest in this shift,” sustainable agriculture campaigner Gen Toop said.