INZ chairwoman Nicky Hyslop released the group’s new strategy at its annual meeting saying it was prompted by growing public concern among about irrigation’s impact on the environment.
“And there has been our struggle to get good information out to the public with respect to what irrigation can do, not only for farmers but for communities too.”
The strategy comprises five pillars, being advocacy, thought leadership, connectivity of people, standard-setting and information provision.
Hyslop said it has underdone communicating the value of water storage to communities.
In coming years INZ intends to focus more on the direct link between water and food, with extra amenity values like town water supply being valuable community gains with such projects.
But a sharpened level of central government policy around water quality and use has also prompted INZ to look harder at its role.
“With the new Government we are in such a different operating environment and, to be fair, the Government has been quite direct but it has also shown a real willingness to engage with us.”
She acknowledged Environment Minister David Parker’s firm views on water quality, expressed through the Essential Freshwater programme announcement.
“But it is up to us to also impress upon Government about setting too many prescriptive directives. They do have to be relative at a catchment level.”
Given the absence of any industry groups on the new programme, Hyslop said good communication between the Government and those groups will be vital.
At a public level INZ’s executive has a strong message from its membership to improve the conversation and that includes getting more irrigators to tell their story.
Irrigation has become inexorably linked to dairying in the public perception but that is less likely to be the case as the Government pushes for higher-value crops and produce from the primary sector.
“I think thanks to the limits we are seeing come on in places like Canterbury we will also see more diverse use of water.”
Hyslop said advocacy is one of the new strategy’s pillars that will also have to be applied to farmers who do not but could have irrigation.
In August Massey University agribusiness expert Professor Hamish Gow said many farmers are paralysed by uncertainty about new irrigation investment with its extra layer of capital risk and often accompanying environmental constraints. That stymies farmer uptake.
Lack of farmer uptake has meant the Hunter Downs scheme has been canned and Hurunui significantly revised.
“Yes, there is a need for farmers who do not have irrigation but who could to better understand what options they have got,” Hyslop said.
“There is a level of concern there and sometimes a lack of confidence. We need to work together with farmers who have the opportunity to irrigate and those who already have it.”
It might be worth revisiting the use of irrigation ambassadors, a concept used in Ruataniwha when the dam was in play.
Farmers from Canterbury went north to present approaches and options to farmers who might have had access to that scheme.
The new strategy will not necessarily involve INZ appointing many new staff but a constitutional change means the body will be appointing two independent directors to offer a broader view and help ensure strategy goals are being met.
Providing more information to help assuage public concerns or inquiries is a key strategy pillar and Hyslop said it will prove invaluable to helping link positive environmental outcomes with water use.
“We are not wanting a great beast of a database but much of the information is already there. It just needs to be aggregated.”
That information will also prove valuable for more specific, informed advocacy.
With water issues brewing in parts of Canterbury and particularly in Hawke’s Bay this summer, INZ’s focus needs to be on highlighting the value of water storage as such regions feel the sharp end of climate change impacts.
Hyslop is quietly confident a new chief executive will be appointed by Christmas to replace Andrew Curtis.
