THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1982. A Canterbury decision

Press, 7 April 1982, Page 16

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1982. A Canterbury decision

Last Friday the Minister of Works, Mr Quigley; spoke encouragingly to an irrigation conference in Rangiora. Although he refrained from, making any firm promises to extend support for irrigation schemes, he noted the extra grant of •5111,000 to the North Canterbury Catchment Board. The board, acting as the regional water authority, will use this money to hasten its investigation into irrigation from the Rakaia River. Mr Quigley did not come out in favour of the river irrigation, scheme; instead, he spoke of the possibility, and no more than the possibility, of Government grants for farmers who want to embark on individual schemes using ground water. On Saturday, the . Minister of Agriculture, 'Mr Maclntyre, toured Canterbury in response to the pleas of farmers who have been suffering from an exceptionally dry summer. Both Ministers promised to look at matters that seemed helpful to farmers; both were essentially cautious. Mr Maclntyre.was clearly being cautious because he was not going to commit the Government to more hand-outs to farmers while the Government is trying to reduce, or restrict, its expenditure. Mr Quigley was hinting at what might be quite profound changes in the ways that the Government would assist or encourage irrigation.

By far the most important lesson to be drawn from the Ministers’ visits is that Canterbury is going to have to make up its own mind about irrigation. Even without the past summer of severe drought, the question of irrigation, by whatever means, should be rated as the province’s most important single issue that will determine its over-all economy. This does not mean that panic decisions should be made, that irrigation schemes will solve all the province’s problems, or that decisions in favour of irrigation should be made at the expense of all other considerations about environmental values and other uses of our water resources.

When, however, a long drought is coupled with, sagging prices for farm produce, the cost of not having irrigation is all the clearer. If, for the sake of other considerations, Canterbury denies itself more irrigation and the greater wealth to be had from applying water to the plains, the province cannot logically turn to the Government and plead for drought relief.

If the province puts a higher price on other uses of its water supply, a plea for compensation in the years of drought would amount to a demand for having the best of all worlds at the expense of the country’s taxpayers. Admittedly no conceivable form of irrigation will secure more production from all of Canterbury’s farmland; but much more irrigation is possible.

Mr. Quigley has reminded Canterbury that the Rakaia decision is first of all a local decision. If the voices raised against irrigation from the river are sufficient to persuade the water authority that little or no water should be taken from the river, the Government can turn to other people who are looking for State backing. The alternative form of irrigation from underground supplies, and the associated generation of energy to pump the water,’ are also matters for the Government. Either way, Canterbury people have the ball in their court.

For many years, Canterbury farmers have been perfecting methods of what they call dry-land farming and many are highly successful. Some farmers have come to Canterbury from much more productive areas, exchanging high-priced farms for cheaper land; they have shown the way to higher production. Nevertheless, Canterbury cannot ignore some unpleasant facts about its economy and the future of farming on the plains.

Other parts of New Zealand, more favoured by their climate and their soil, and, benefiting more directly from the establishing of major industries, have been outstripping Canterbury in growth and productivity. Canterbury can boast of haying many successful manufacturers in its towns; it has had a comfortable farming history, and it can point to many farming successes in recent times. For all the care that must be taken to avoid exploiting the rivers and damaging them for other purposes, Canterbury needs more water on the land to make the province flourish. The Government is obviously not going to direct the province to get on with the job.. It is not going to get itself into the middle of a controversy over the use of the Rakaia or any other river. The decision — one of a kind that is commonly called “participatory democracy” — is going to be made in Canterbury.