Farmers stand up in support of CPW

Today farmers mostly from Selwyn District stood up in support of the proposed Central Plains Water (CPW) irrigation scheme at the resource consent hearing. They presented evidence that the scheme will protect groundwater supplies and introduce environmentally efficient practices, while ensuring farming in the region is viable and prosperous.

Hororata dryland farmer Doug Catherwood pointed out that the scheme would prevent further extraction of groundwater resources in Canterbury. "This would benefit the nation by shutting down hundreds of deep well pumps, thus saving electricity, and by not taking groundwater, therefore increasing natural wetland spring systems on the Canterbury Plains."

Darfield farmer Paul Jarman, a former Ballance Farm Environment Award winner and UK Linking Farming and Environment Programme exchangee, said the scheme would not only improve groundwater recharge, but its proposed environmental best practice code "would ensure that any environmental issues resulting from water use can be mitigated at or near the source."

Ross Keeley, Chairman of both the RITSO Society (a Selwyn water enhancement group) and the Dunsandel Ground Water Users Group, says the scale of CPW was beneficial for regulatory bodies as one consent holder would be responsible for ensuring standards were maintained. "A community scheme of this size has advantages in that it can insist on environmental practices and standards. This would not be possible if such a development was simply undertaken by individual farms."