IrrigationNZ is pleased to see the National Party’s announcement today to encourage greater investment in water storage for food production.

“Investment in critical water storage has been stymied by complex consenting arrangements in New Zealand,” says Vanessa Winning, CE of IrrigationNZ. “The National Party policy for primary sector growth will encourage investment in on-farm water storage while still protecting important environmental assets, will insist on quicker consenting decisions for off-farm water storage, and will lengthen consent durations to 30 years. All of this will create certainty and encourage investment in this very necessary infrastructure to ensure resilience for New Zealand as climate change disrupts weather patterns. 
 

“This is good progress and a step toward developing a country-wide strategic approach to water resilience. 
 

“We have asked successive governments and all parties (as set out in our recently released election policy) to support investment in water storage in order to supplement reliable water supply for food production and ultimately reduce reliance on rivers. 
 

“Supporting investment in water storage through enabling policy is also a great way to signal to farmers and growers that investing for climate adaptation and land use change is the right move.
 

“Consenting processes under the current RMA interpretation and the upcoming NBEA are expensive, onerous, and for a timeframe that wouldn’t see pay back of the initial investment. This prevents farmers from moving their land into high value horticulture or crops at a time when we are asking them to do so. It also impacts New Zealand’s ability to grow food, and leads to over reliance on imported animal feed. 
 

“While the policy released today is a step in the right direction, we would welcome a Minister dedicated to freshwater management for all users, across the multitude of departments that input into water policy. 
 

“We would like to see further enabling legislation for water investment that benefits the whole community and looks to all uses such as localised hydro, irrigation, drinking water, environmental, and recreation use. 
 

“As the National Party says, we are gifted with an abundance of water, but we need to be smarter and more strategic in the way we capture, store and use it, so the whole country benefits and we can improve our clean green credentials in a smart, long term way,” concludes Ms Winning.

© Scoop Media