Innovation in Management

By Kris Polly

We all know about the importance of technological innovation for irrigated agriculture. But what about innovation in management and governance?In this month’s cover interview with North Otago IrrigationCompany Chief Executive Andrew Rodwell, we hear about the reasons for the establishment of AQUS Limited, a new management company that manages four irrigation companies in the Waitaki Valley.

The rest of this issue is dedicated to conversations with members of irrigation district boards of directors. In the past,Irrigation Leader has published multiple managers’ issues that have been dedicated to profiling and interviewing the managers of irrigation districts across the country. This month, we bring you a directors’ issue, featuring members of boards of directors from 14 U.S. states and New Zealand.

Directors are foundational to the successful operation of an irrigation district. Bringing their own professional experience and their connections in and knowledge of their communities, they inform the overall direction of the district, help advise the manager, represent stakeholders, and help communicate the organization’s mission. We ask our directors why they chose this leadership position, what they’ve learned, and what their advice is for new managers.

I’d also like to call your attention to an upcoming initiative of Irrigation Leader magazine. We are working to put together an irrigation district directors’ handbook, drawing on the insights of many current board members from across the West. Our working title is simply the Board Members’ Guide. Our intention is include any and all information that may be helpful for a board member to be successful. We’d love to have our readers involved in the creation of this resource so that we can ensure that it’s the most informative and powerful resource it can be. In the near future, we will be reaching out to irrigation districts to see whether they want to participate in the development of this guide. All who participate will have access to it.

Whether you are a member of a board of directors yourself, are considering joining a board, or are simply curious about what a director does, I am certain that you’ll find much of interest in this insiders’ look into their work.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and the president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.