The Government has announced it will invest more than $56 million in water resilience projects to help rural Canterbury protect against changing weather patterns and increase productivity through higher value land use.
Regional Development Minister, Shane Jones said ease of access to water was a top priority for Canterbury’s rural communities
“Canterbury has so far avoided the extreme drought experienced in previous years, thanks in part to high rainfall over December and January. However, it is still critical that the region future-proofs its water supply,” said Mr Jones.
The three projects receiving loans through the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) are:
- Opuha Dam and Irrigation Scheme upgrade – up to $20.8m to upgrade Opuha Dam;
- Balmoral Water Storage Facility (Amuri) – up to $20m to build a pond to store up to 10 million cu m for an existing irrigation scheme where resource consents are already held to divert, take, use, and discharge water to land in Amuri Basin;
- Waimakariri Irrigation Scheme – up to $15.6m to develop a large-scale storage facility to improve water reliability through the existing Waimakariri Irrigation Scheme.
Associate Regional Development Minister, Mark Patterson announced the funding at an event in Cust, along with around 100 farmers and other stakeholders.
“In recent years Canterbury has faced increasingly longer and dryer periods. Last August I was nearby Rangiora to announce additional support for farmers dealing with drought,” Mr Patterson says.
“Opuha Dam is a vital regional asset which needs an upgrade to extend its life and address flood management, water quality and seismic risks. Today’s funding will ensure this critical work goes ahead.
“As well as irrigating farms, the dam has enabled growth in downstream industries such as vegetable and dairy processing while helping preserve the river environment.
“The Balmoral project will ensure a more reliable water supply for farmers, providing more certainty to continue investing in diversified land use and high-value food production.
“The need for a more reliable water supply was also a key driver for the Waimakariri Irrigation Scheme. The project will enable water diverted from Waimakariri River when it is plentiful to be stored in ponds and used all year,” he said.
