barrhill chertsey irrigation scheme opening

Ashburton Guardian Advertising Feature

BARRHILL CHERTSEYIRRIGATION SCHEMEGRAND OPENING

BARRHILL CHERTSEYIrrigation Scheme2 Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Scheme

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For two generations farmers in both the Barrhill and Chertsey areas of Mid Canterbury shared a vision to extract water from the Rakaia River and improve productivity on the good arable soils in the area. In 1998 the groups combined and formed Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Limited and a consent to irrigate 40,000 hectares of the area with 17,000 litres per second of water was gained in 2001.

The reality of getting local farmers in the area to support the building of a large scale irrigation scheme proved challenging for the Company over the ensuing eight years. The scheme saw a number of proposals presented to shareholders over this period culminating in a successful share float in the depths of the recession in 2009.

The Background

• The BCI Scheme is a 50:50 Joint Venture between farmer co-operative Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Limited and community owned lines co-operative Electricity Ashburton Limited.

• The BCI Scheme has a long term contract with TrustPower Limited to take water from the Rakaia River and pump to the district’s existing irrigation canal, the Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR).

• The BCI Scheme has an agreement with RDR Management Limited to deliver water to around 10 locations across the upper plains of the district.

• The BCI Scheme has a further arrangement with Acton Farmers Irrigation Limited to utilise 3,000 litres per second of the consented water in a race delivery scheme between Rakaia and Pendarves in the lower plains of the district.

The Business Model

The scheme layout in the upper plains of Mid Canterbury.

BARRHILL CHERTSEYIrrigation SchemeBarrhill Chertsey Irrigation Scheme 3

With the initial stages now complete, the past 12 months has been a huge year for the shareholders and stakeholders of the Barhill Chertsey Irrigation scheme. Since joining the scheme, the majority of farmers are nearing the end of their first irrigation season and are now beginning to see a return for their investment.

For many, their on farm planning started in 2009 with a phone call to one of Plains Irrigators Ltd designers. As agents for Zimmatic centre pivot and lateral move irrigators, Plains were able to offer farmers a ‘one stop’ solution starting from the design of their irrigation system and the supply of irrigators, right through to the installation and project management of mainline, additional pumping and stock water .

Due to the staged construction of the BCI distribution network and the availability of water, we worked closely with clients to ensure that their irrigation system was installed and commissioned prior to the farm receiving water. In some instances water became available to farms earlier than scheduled. Again with close liaison and rescheduling of the install projects, we were able to in all instances meet agreed deadlines.

A large part of this success was due to the timely manufacture and release of the irrigators out of the Lindsay Manufacturing plant in Nebraska, and the detailed planning and scheduling of the on farm development, but most importantly it was the close working relationship we had at all levels with the farmer.

Watching our clients farming operations beginning to transform, Plains Irrigators is pleased to announce we are now working with farmers on year two of their developments.

• TrustPower Limited installed the initial intake and pumping capacity of 4,000 litres per second adjacent to their existing Highbank Power Station on the Rakaia River. This facility is expandable to 8,000 litres per second and pumps the water 100m up the terrace via the existing penstock.

• The BCI Scheme made modifications to the RDR and implemented state of the art automation to the race to accommodate the more complex delivery arrangements. The pumped Rakaia River water is able to flow 13 km back up the RDR and be delivered to the Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Scheme. The volume of water delivered to this scheme could then be abstracted upstream in the 67 km RDR in a water swap arrangement.

• For each of the main BCI Scheme lines the water is siphoned from the RDR to a 24 hour buffer pond. From this pond the water is taken through a

fine screen to a pipe delivery network. The network is made up of around 65 km of buried pipe.

• Irrigators are delivered water through a metered property offtake at 4 bar pressure, enough to operate most modern irrigation systems. Around 60% of the volume can achieve this pressure through gravity in the pipeline and a series of pump stations boost to this level as required.

• Irrigators make their daily water orders through a web based water management system and can monitor their seasonal water use.

• Irrigators are charged a monthly fixed charge and variable charge. The variable charge is based on the monthly volume of water used and meets the cost of scheme energy and Trustpower pumping charge.

The Infrastructure

Future Developments

A typical property off take delivering pressurised water.

The BCI scheme is now selling more shares with a close-off date of 30 June 2011. Funds raised will help add new connections to the pipe network.

BCI chairman John Wright says the prospectus, registered last month, will sell what is left of the next cumec of water BCI has consent for. This follows on from the successful development of the base network in 2010 which saw three cumecs of water being delivered to around 6,700 hectares of farmland and 50 BCI shareholders. Landowners in the Upper Plains area around the five main pipe lines now have an opportunity to connect to those lines and take a pressurised irrigation water supply for the spring of 2011.

Although the prospectus does not close until 30 June, Mr Wright is urging farmers to make their application for a new connection and for shares as soon as possible. “For the BCI Scheme to be able to install the required infrastructure and make water available before spring this year we need sufficient time.”

However he says the BCI board is confident the shares will be taken up. “The board is pleased to be in the position we are as far as realising those connections. Now we need to sell as much water as possible to make the scheme profitable.”

Details of the share offer are on the BCI website www.bciwater.co.nz

Further BCI Shares for Sale

• The Joint Venture structure allowed the distribution network to be installed with significant surplus capacity. In 2010, the first irrigation season, 3,000 litres per second were delivered to around 6,700 ha. This is expected to grow to 8,000 litres per second and 18,000 ha within five years.

• The reliability of the BCI Scheme consented water is less than optimal for modern farming businesses. Efforts are being made to provide background storage in the short term to improve the reliability of supply.

• The BCI Scheme is involved in a proposal to deliver water in a canal to Barrhill; a proposal consented through the Ashburton Community

Water Trust. If this proposal proceeds in the next few years the remaining volume of consented BCI Scheme water could be delivered to the area from Barrhill to Rakaia by gravity. This proposal is primarily an electricity generation project with the ability to deliver irrigation water to the plains. A further 13,000 ha would be irrigated with 6,000 litres per second of water.

• The BCI Scheme is making a concerted effort to work closely with other irrigation schemes in the district and wider Canterbury area. The goal is that a combined irrigation management business will ultimately operate all of the schemes creating efficiency and unprecedented co-operation.

4 Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Scheme

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He’s only been in the job just over a month but already Mike Lamb is getting to grips with the scale of the irrigation scheme he is now managing.

The new operations manager for Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI) is realistic when he talks about the challenges ahead.

“It is a new role and it’s a learning curve for me at the moment. From my point of view the whole thing is a bit developmental still. BCI is a new system. It’s not like an old irrigation system that has some history.”

Prior to starting with BCI, Mike ran his own consultancy offering health and safety, HR, IT and Quality Assurance advice, along with environmental and project management. From previous stints at Mt Hutt Skifield and Mt Hutt Helicopters, Mike gained considerable experience in “back-end support services and systems”.

It’s this experience that’s proving so valuable for BCI. “We’re developing systems and processes for BCI because they don’t exist. These systems are now being built and they are all very new.”

Over time, Mike will become the ‘go to’ person for irrigators. “I’ll be somebody people can contact about

the operation of the scheme.”At the moment however he is focused

on learning as much as he can about the technology behind the scheme. He says the variety involved with the role was one of its main attractions.

“I’ve been able to meet and interact with a whole bunch of different people. And the fact that it’s a technology-based system, if you like, which I have an interest in.”

Becoming involved in agriculture again also appealed. Born and raised on a Waikato farm, Mike was keen to return to the farming industry. “It was a bit of a draw-card for me.”

For the next few months, Mike says learning and understanding the system will be his major focus. Before the next irrigation system, BCI will roll out a new water ordering system and as part of this the website will be upgraded to feature more of the scheme’s operational elements.

He’s pleased by the reaction from farmers to the high tech systems being used. “There’s certainly an interest in the technological part of it.”

“It is simple to operate. You talk to farmers involved in other schemes and there’s a lot of effort they have to put in to operate their schemes. This is totally different.”

Mike Lamb BCI Operations Manager

Mike Lamb, BCI Operations Manager.

New Structure at the RDR Methven Check Gate near Methven

Trustpower Intake and Pumping Station at Highbank Power Station on the Rakaia River.


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working on the Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation scheme”

As a young farm worker starting out at Viewmount Farm, Ross Richards never imagined 35 years later he would own the property outright and that an innovative new irrigation scheme would be built on his farm.

Ross and his wife Adrienne are shareholders in the Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Ltd (BCI) scheme which began operating this summer from an off-take of the Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR) which runs through their farm. The mixed cropping farmers are enjoying having irrigation for the first time and say yields are already on the rise.

“On our best dryland we used to manage six tonne per hectare. Now irrigation even on our poor soils is producing nine tonne per hectare.” One crop, Cockfoot is up 50% in yield, and while not all of that is to do with irrigation, Ross is confident his cropping results will only get better as he learns how to more efficiently use the water.

With 300 hectares just west of Methven, Viewmount Farm sits in what is traditionally thought to be a high rainfall area, but ongoing drought has plagued the district and Ross says farmers need options to survive. With the RDR and power pylons bisecting the farm, only 125 hectares is available for irrigation. “This is our third dry year in a row so it’s a big advantage to have irrigation. Even having it on a small bit of land is better than nothing.”

While many think irrigation is a dairy farmer’s tool, Ross’s view is that water is becoming

more critical for arable farmers also. “When I first started working we had one

year in five that would have benefited from irrigation. But things have changed. I don’t believe we are getting less rainfall but it’s not coming at the ideal times. Plant breeding and technology has improved a lot and our yield potential is so much better. Today’s crops suffer more than crops did 25 to 30 years ago if they don’t get water.”

Growing small seeds, wheat, barley, peas and Cockfoot, with a store lamb operation in winter, Ross says having irrigation gives the farm more options and safeguards the operation for his sons, 15-year-old Bryce and 12-year-old Douglas.

“Basically it will future proof the farm for any type of farming we would like to do. If we hadn’t put in irrigation last year, we wouldn’t have been growing for South Pacific Seeds (a Mid Canterbury vegetable seed export company). They insist on irrigation. A lot of the companies we contract to are happy we have done it, and we’ve had two different agents asking us to grow ryegrass. We haven’t been asked before.”

With a dry November and December, Ross was grateful to have water early on. “We were late getting crops in and if your crops needed a lot of moisture then they would have suffered. Irrigation for us has made a huge difference. We definitely have had a better season.”

Investing in BCI has not been without

complications however, although Ross says he always expected some hiccups to start with.

With the off-take being built on their farm, Ross sold 3.4 hectares to the company for the creation of the scheme’s storage pond and canal. The infrastructure took a year to build and the family endured regular heavy machinery movements around their property, causing the compaction of one paddock. In September just as the scheme was due to open, 120 metres of pipe blew out and had to be dug up and replaced. A valve also failed and needed attention. “But it hasn’t been too bad. In fact I expected more problems.”

Ross and Adrienne estimate investing in the BCI scheme has added around $1million in debt to the farm. After share costs, the couple spent more than $300,000 on an irrigator and putting power in, then there was another $100,000 on the storage pond that will improve the reliability of the irrigation.

The new pond, which holds 34,000 cubic metres of water, gives the farm another 12 days of water after minimum restrictions cut in. “That’s a good rain and a good back up.”

“If you are going to irrigate you have to get it as reliable as possible. It’s not a big pond as far as storage goes but it’s a management tool.”

Ross is philosophical about the costs of the scheme saying a long-term view is needed.

“Its’ expensive now but in 20 years time it will be reasonably cheap and it will be looked upon

as a good investment.”With BCI gearing itself up to offer more

shares, Ross’s advice to other farmers is to get in before the remaining water is taken.

“Soon it will be fully allocated, very quickly I would think.”

With the farm having suffered damage from a tornado and hailstorm last year, he’s all too aware that mother nature will continue to influence the farm’s profitability.

“That was a once in a lifetime experience we hope. But with irrigation if you get a natural disaster, you can resow and go again. It makes the losses more palatable.”

Ross is also a climate change believer, but says human influence is over-stated. “There’s a cycle and we’re in a drier cycle than we were 30 years ago. The scheme will mean that our family can farm with some consistency.”

For the Mid Canterbury community, Ross says the BCI scheme has come at a great time. “There are benefits for everyone. The ponds are being used for firefighting. There are hydrants that the rural fire brigades can just turn the tap on and use. It’s a marvellous scheme.”

And for the self-confessed “lazy” farmer, the technology utilized by the scheme has made life even easier. “You just push a button and away it goes. It doesn’t seem to be any more work.”

Ross Richards


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Fulton Hogan are proud to have been awarded the contract to construct the civil works for the Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation scheme.This unique contract included the construction of siphon intakes, canals and ponds of Methven, Highbank, Forks, Buccleugh and Mayfield.Fulton Hogan worked closely with the designers to develop a constructible solution which could be achieved within the extremely short construction window.Fulton Hogan’s civil division was responsible for the delivery of the project. The local workforce and resources of the Fulton Hogan Ashburton team were utilised constructing the siphons over the RDR stop bank, walkways and concrete encasement structures along with Gabion baskets and road construction which enabled work to proceed on various fronts at the same time.In spite of the wet weather experienced during August, all works were completed on time within budget and to the agreed standard.

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Malcolm Cairns considers himself lucky he bought a 50-hectare farming block at Highbank a couple of years ago. Without the new land, the Barrhill farmer wouldn't have had access to irrigation through the Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI) scheme this summer.

The potato grower and arable farmer has had an interesting season, comparing the results of crops on his newly irrigated block at Highbank against the dryland farm at Barrhill.

"In my ryegrass seed crop, I reckon there was about a tonne a hectare difference just with the water - in fact without it the crop would probably have been made into balage. I also got some broccoli seed which I would never have grown without water. I wouldn't have got a contract." Malcolm says a wheat crop that didn't yield that highly still came in two to three tonne ahead as well.

"In the end we got about four weeks of water. If we had got a full irrigating season of 10 weeks I can certainly see the potential there. At least it has given me a chance to get my head around irrigating and how to maximize it."

Malcolm, who farms in partnership with his 78-year-old father Graham, wants to see more Government support for water storage initiatives to complement local irrigation schemes.

"We've shown the Government that we are keen to back ourselves to take on a bit of a challenge and we've put our money on the line. But where they could come in is to help get storage out of Lake Coleridge to

increase reliability for the scheme. I'd also like to see more money for feasibility studies."

The father of five-month-old Freddie supports Government loans to help young farmers like himself spread the costs over a longer period.

"It's an investment, it generates a lot of things, employment for one and it's money well spent."

"In my own situation if I had water to irrigate both properties we would have had to create another full- time job. There is that trickle-down effect. We're also growing higher yield crops which are exported and my seed potatoes go all over the country to different growers."

As well as potatoes, Malcolm is rotating wheat, ryegrass, barley and brassica seed. Having water - even on 50 hectares - allows him to work towards higher yields without taking on more land.

"There's a potential lift in yield at Highbank that will be bigger than what we can achieve at home."

He foresees in the next few years that they will grow more specialist crops, fatten lambs and look at green feed crops after peas.

"These are all things that we couldn't do without water. It's about setting your targets a bit higher. And adjusting your management through the season to achieve these high yields."

With high initial costs to buy into the scheme, Malcolm says he understands the reluctance of some to invest. He estimates it's costing them $950 per hectare in farm

debt servicing, including the costs of the shares, irrigator and ongoing water charges. "It's quite a lot upfront and you do need to get the results to justify it."

But long term he hopes his son Frederick will thank him for it. "I'm really positive as far as the scheme goes. You read a lot about Central Plains Water and other schemes but this one is actually happening."

The key to BCI's success will be ensuring consistency and Malcolm says being able to use the shoulder water from the RDR is instrumental to this."If it can be maintained that will be great."

Over time Malcolm believes schemes like the BCI will prevent any further ad hoc takes from rivers and groundwater and that conservationists will see the benefits of working with farmers to find water storage locations. He's hopeful the Canterbury Water Management Strategy will bring the parties together.

For now, provided crop returns stay high, Malcolm says their farming operation will aim to grow more potatoes on the Highbank block and more high value seed crops.

"This year to turn on the hydrant and there's water and that's all you need to think about has been pretty good. It's just like money pouring down which is quite satisfying."

Malcolm’s father Graham is also impressed by the ease of irrigating with BCI.

"He initially was not too enthusiastic but now he's pretty excited about seeing BCI come to fruition."

Malcolm Cairns

Malcolm Cairns

Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Scheme 7

BARRHILL CHERTSEYIrrigation Scheme

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If it wasn’t for the BCI scheme, there may not have been much of a farming future for Bevan Lill to return to on his father’s farm in Highbank.

The 30-year-old now farms in partnership with his father Graeme at Highbank, but until three years ago worked as a resource management consultant outside the district, including a stint in Canada. Soon after Bevan’s return to the farm the BCI first prospectus was released, which meant Graeme and Bevan had to make a decision about the future of their farming operation. Graeme was a founding shareholder in BCI and has always seen the potential irrigation provides.

Without irrigation the Lill’s 400 hectares of Lyndhurst silt loam soils were “nothing special” and the farm was becoming more drought-prone. Seeing valuable seed contracts go to other irrigated farmers confirmed for Bevan that accessing water was critical. “We either had to accept dryland farming or go for irrigation. To continue farming as we were meant irrigation to improve our reliability.”

The Lills invested in the BCI scheme irrigating 350 of their 400 hectares and this season have watched the water irrigate their fields, with crops ranging from ryegrass, wheat and barley to turnips, radish and linseed benefiting.

Although it’s only been one season with irrigation, Bevan is impressed already with the “robust yields”. “In a drought year we might achieve ryegrass yields of no more than 500kg per hectare. This year without

water we might have got somewhere around one tonne per hectare instead of the 2.5 tonnes which we have achieved. It would have been a disaster without irrigation.”

Milling wheat in dryland paddocks of the farm this year yielded 4.5 to 5.5 tonnes, whereas irrigated paddocks have come close to nine tonnes per hectare in spite of a late start with irrigation in the spring.

For the Lills, the investment in the BCI scheme hasn’t been taken lightly. “It’s probably cost us in the order of $1.5 million in total to develop the farm. It is substantial.” This includes the BCI shares and irrigation infrastructure.

“Given we are farmers we are probably risk takers anyway. What we do is relatively high risk. Unfortunately in recent years it’s been relatively low return for high risk.”

Bevan wrote to the Government two years ago with farming colleagues Steve Sim and Malcolm Cairns asking for Government support for the scheme. At the time it made him visible in the media, not something he was comfortable with, but he believed as a young farmer he needed to speak out about the costs and wider community benefits.

“We are very aware that this project will take more than a generation alone to pay off. We wanted people to be aware that there are massive benefits for future generations and the wider community.” These views were supported by many young farmers, business owners and professionals in Mid Canterbury who also signed the letter.

He is now keen to see the Government

provide back up for schemes like BCI. “It’s more appropriate the dollar is shared in a fair way through water storage type schemes which the Government can own and run for the benefit of environmental flows as well as irrigation.”

Given the piped pressurized system and the latest technology being used, Bevan says the scheme is one of the most efficient around. “We’ve really entered a Rolls Royce system. We open the valve and the water comes out. There are no pumping costs from a deep well, and I don’t have to run my own pumps or manage the maintenance of these.”

Because of this, he’s confident over time more farmers will be attracted to the scheme.

“That’s why I was happy to see little bit extra capacity in the scheme for when farms change hands or for others choosing to join up at a later date.”

Looking ahead, Bevan says the farm will continue to do more of what they do best; focusing on seed production, but processed vegetable production and potatos may also be options.

“First and foremost we want to do what we currently do better. I believe we can make the irrigation pay with our current farming system. We have achieved that this year and in the first year that’s a good outcome.”

“If you have water you have unlimited options. You are only limited by your own willingness and motivation to change.”

Bevan Lill

Bevan Lill


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Providers of Geotechnical, Water Resource and Civil Engineering services throughout N.Z. for:

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A proven track record for innovative and cost effective design solutions has enabled RILEY to grow steadily since its incep-tion in 1984. Today the company has offices in Auckland and Christchurch, employing a staff in excess of 40. RILEY also provides specialist services in geotechnical, water resource and civil engineering. Areas of particular expertise include: land development, subdivisions, windfarms, foundations, earthworks, stability investigation, stormwater, wastewater, flood alleviation and river management, dam site investigation/safety and forensic engineering investigations. RILEY are committed to and support Irrigation New Zealand. Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation RILEY are involved in the design and construction of a number of the components of the scheme including the Rakaia River intake and other structures related to the pump station, siphon intakes and new structures at the Methven checkgates. RILEY has extensive expertise in:

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Richard and Chrissie Wright’s whole farming operation changed overnight with the introduction of water through the BCI scheme. The couple has farmed at Buccleuch in the Mt Somers District for nine years. Despite the farm sitting between two rivers, the Ashburton River South Branch and Bowyers Stream, the Wrights were restricted to running a dryland operation. Efforts by Richard and his neighbours to drill for groundwater had been unsuccessful.

“This was our one and only chance to get water in this area.”

Three years ago they took the punt that the scheme would go ahead and developed a 250 hectare dairy farm milking 600 cows on dryland for two seasons. Now they are milking 1600 cows on 500 hectares of fully irrigated land. The couple’s 1220 hectares has become a completely self contained farm – wintering all the dairy cows on farm, grazing of young stock plus growing crops for grain and silage. They also rear and finish dairy bulls and have an autumn calving beef herd. “BCI has been a blessing; it’s really made the area.”

For the former Ashburton farmers, being able to access water for their Tamar Farming Company has renewed their confidence. Having come from an area with irrigation, Richard says he found it frustrating farming without water.

“We have great seasons in our area but we never know what is going to happen. We’ve been here for nine years and we’ve had drought in every season imaginable. This just puts some certainty into the whole thing.”

Setting up with BCI and converting to dairying wasn’t cheap. The Wrights estimate it has cost them $3000 per hectare for the capital costs of irrigation and $640 per hectare per year for ongoing costs. “For us it’s a huge investment, we have gone the full hog. We have to produce a lot more to cover the extra costs per hectare. But it’s still an asset,” says Richard.

“It was unlucky for BCI that they went out looking for money during the recession but we felt that we had one chance to make it happen so we bought as many shares as we could.”

The Wrights now have the ability to irrigate 600 hectares at 290 litres per second. Over time, they plan to build their own storage pond so that they can distribute water to more of their land. “We have higher rainfall here in a good season than most irrigated farms so we should be able to spread it around.” Richard believes the scheme in time will develop its own storage and he hopes that the Government will assist them with this.

Looking to the future, Richard says “increased productivity and certainty with all seasons” will enable his farming company to further develop. While some

irrigation was installed this season it will be an ongoing project.

He’s impressed that the BCI scheme managed to get them water exactly when they said they would before Christmas. “We were ready for it and now we hope to have more irrigation in prior to autumn.”

While the Wrights are only one of four farms to join the scheme from the Buccleuch area, Richard is optimistic others in the district will think again.

“It’s easy for us to say that everyone should do it. We had come from a 100% irrigated farm at Ashburton prior to coming here and could see the benefits of irrigation. But I think farmers where the pipe has gone through will possibly reconsider now.”

“I don’t think the future of farming in Canterbury is anything without water. We had to come on board or we would have been left behind. The most important thing for us is the productivity it will create. Second will be the lift in land value. The gap in values between irrigated land and dryland is widening.”

“We are future proofing our farm. While it may be expensive now, in ten years time we will forget all about the costs. It’s just keeping up with the times and staying ahead.”

“The BCI board has done a good job. If it wasn’t for the passion and determination of John Wright and the other directors it wouldn’t have happened.”

Richard Wright

Richard Wright


Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Limited (BCI) will eventually reticulate water to irrigate 40,000 hectares of the area’s farmland, delivering a projected economic benefit to the region of $100 million per annum.

This forecast prosperity motivated Electricity Ashburton general manager Gordon Guthrie and his board to diversify beyond operating Mid Canterbury’s power lines network, which the company has done for over nine decades, and into irrigation. So compelling was the projected economic return to the district that Electricity Ashburton formed a joint venture with BCI to develop the scheme, as Gordon Guthrie explains.

“Mid Canterbury has achieved sustained growth over the past 15 years, based on a strong farming sector, significant tourism enterprise and agricultural and manufacturing industries.

“With the Rangitata Diversion Race and groundwater, irrigation already underpins much of that, and reticulating power to enable farmers to irrigate or increase their productivity

is a big part of our business. In fact, Electricity Ashburton’s efficient, secure power supply infrastructure plays a pivotal role in the region’s economy.

“In recent years we have moved beyond solely operating a power lines network to become involved in actively developing other infrastructure projects. In December 2009 we committed to BCI as one such scheme with potential to benefit the region, improving productivity on the good arable soils in the area to increase farmers’ returns and create new jobs,” he said.

Gordon Guthrie says Electricity Ashburton keenly observed BCI’s proposals for a number of years before taking an active role in the joint venture, which involves the power network company investing $10 million towards construction of BCI’s pressurised piped distribution system.

“Although BCI had the consents to operate the scheme, and strong evidence that farmers will be better off with the water, expecting those shareholders to pay the high initial costs to

construct the scheme infrastructure was unrealistic. Other irrigation schemes have benefited from an initial cornerstone partner or investor to assist the farming community to bring such ambitious plans to fruition. Because we are local, community owned and understand infrastructure Electricity Ashburton was a natural fit for BCI in this role,” he said.

After a successful capital raising programme in December 2009 confirmed that BCI had farmers commited to its proposals, Electricity Ashburton’s investment enabled construction to commence.

Gordon Guthrie believes commissioning the scheme is an outstanding achievement for the whole region.

“Although it is more than a generation since the scheme was first mooted, what is really exciting about BCI is that this scheme was initiated locally and has been brought into existence almost entirely from within the region, with minimal external assistance,” he said.

Typical Siphon from RDR. Typical Property Off Take.


Water Dynamics - Active in your community!






Water Dynamics - Active in your community!Water Dynamics - Active in your community!


Hello,

Walter Dynamic here,Now I get out and about quite a lot in my capacity as Chief Irrigation Advisor for Water Dynamics and there is one thing I love helping my farmers achieve - results!

Because when it comes to crop production, we all want to see numbers going up. And that’s certainly where we can help. Our state-of-the-art hydraulic irrigation pivots (and our dedicated support service) are all about boosting production and maximising returns.

Call your local irrigation Expert on 0508 IRRIGATEAlways active in

your community

Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Limited (BCI) was constructed to provide the Mid Canterbury district the opportunity to ensure it retains its status as the ‘premier farming district’ in New Zealand, by keeping our fertile land well irrigated.The project will provide for more balanced use of the district’s water and energy resources. The use of “run of river” water in the upper plains will significantly reduce energy consumption for pumping and provide further ground water recharge in the lower plains.Electricity generation within the scheme will provide the district with a valuable source of renewable energy generation.

To deliver the irrigation distribution network and manage all aspects of construction, Tyco Flow Control engaged the capabilities of Water Infrastructure Group – the project delivery arm of Tyco Flow Control.

Water Infrastructure Group has provided a dedicated project engineering and project management team based on site at Methven.

“These large schemes cannot be paralleled to on-farm irrigation and, simply put, you need construction and project management professionals to deliver the best possible outcome”

With a reputation for delivering complex and challenging projects within budget, on time and with outstanding safety, environmental

and community outcomes, Water Infrastructure Group is recognised for its innovation and quality management systems to deliver on these outcomes.

Heading into winter, two of the main BCI distribution lines have been be commissioned and ready to deliver pressurised water to properties on the scheme. The ability to

complete this scheme in a tight time frame is a good example of the benefits of the close working relationship between Tyco Flow Control and the BCI Board and management. This is a significant milestone for Tyco Flow Control, and proof they can deliver projects on or ahead of time, under challenging constraints.

Project delivery on time

Local Knowledge That CountsAlford Forest Road, PO Box 403 Ashburton Phone (03) 308 6011

Fax (03) 308 5108 Mobile 027 249 7306

Rooney Earthmoving Limited (REL) has completed constructing the Acton Irrigation Scheme utilising 3.0cumecs of BCI water for irrigation

and 0.70cumecs for stockwater from the Rakaia River to supply 6600ha of farmland on the East side of SH1 below Rakaia.

The scheme is an enlargement of the existing stockwater scheme and comprises a 27km long main race running from Rakaia to Seafield Road with another six side races comprising 47km, fed off the headrace and running parallel to the Rakaia River, terminating at the coast.

The 50 shareholders in the scheme will use the water in a range of irrigated farming activities including dairying, sheep, beef and deer with grain and specialist arable crop farming making up the balance. Irrigation will primarily consist of Rotorainer, Centre pivot and Lateral irrigators.

REL has investigated, designed and built the Acton scheme. We have recently completed constructing parts of the main BCI scheme to enable full utilisation of the rest of the BCI consented water.

We are specialists in:• Earthmoving Construction • Borderdyking (Laser & GPS) • Dairy Conversions, Underpasses & Farm Maintenance • Irrigation Work, Trenching & Pipe Laying • Pond Construction• Tree & Stump Removal • General Excavation Work • Subdivisions• Heavy Haulage, Certified Pilots • Gravel/Soil Screening

barrhill chertsey irrigation scheme opening

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