Launch of 'Hill Country Irrigation' guidebook

The myth that irrigation only occurs on flat land is set to be dispelled with the release of a new guidebook targeting farmers irrigating within New Zealand’s hilly regions.

IrrigationNZ has developed the resource book, with the support of the Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF), to help hill country farmers successfully adapt irrigation for steeper slopes. The guidebook outlines the best irrigation systems for hill country properties and provides advice to minimise run-off and improve water retention on slopes with high gradients.

IrrigationNZ Project Manager Paul Reese, who co-authored the guidebook, says while many New Zealanders associate irrigation with the Canterbury Plains and flatter areas of New Zealand, irrigation on hill country farms is increasingly common.

"Advances in technologies, combined with favourable economics, have encouraged irrigation development in many hillier areas not traditionally considered for irrigation. Areas such as Central and North Otago, the foothills along Canterbury and in eastern parts the North Island have seen growth in irrigation on sloping ground covering a wide variety of crops and pasture. In many parts of New Zealand irrigating using natural contours has been happening for decades but more automated and efficient equipment and infrastructure is now being used over a larger area."

"Achieving efficient irrigation on hill country is more challenging than on flat land and demands a greater level of skill, as well as specific design tailored to the property. The critical challenge is to keep the water in the plant root zone avoiding and minimising run-off. Our guide book offers solutions to these problems, alongside a review of the relative merits of the different methods of irrigation that suit hill slopes in New Zealand."

The ‘Hill Country Irrigation guidebook’ will be launched at IrrigationNZ’s ‘Great Irrigation Challenge’ training and education event in Ashburton midday next Friday 3 October. Hill country farmers and irrigators from catchments with steep terrain are welcome to attend. Copies of the guidebook will be available at the launch and can be accessed afterwards by contacting Paul Reese at IrrigationNZ on phone (03) 341 2225.

The guidelines, co-authored by AgResearch, Landcare Research and Aqualinc, are relevant to all irrigated areas in New Zealand where slope has the potential to cause irrigation water to move off-site as either surface or subsurface flow. Additional input came from Precision Irrigation and the North Otago Irrigation Company, in the form of support for field trials conducted in North Otago.