The ambitious idea for the South Canterbury area’s Opuha Water scheme germinated in the 1980s, and the scheme was established in 1995. Today, it is a mainstay of the regional economy. We speak with Director Richard…

In our cover story this month, we interview Kelvin Weir, the
chairman of the Maerewhenua District Water Resource Company
(MDWRC). Active in irrigated agriculture in the region for
several decades, he tells us about how practices have changed and
how MDWRC is striving to make water use ever more efficient.
With an entitlement of 3.1 million acre-feet of Colorado River
water per year, Southern California’s Imperial Irrigation District
(IID) cannot be…