Wine and Sport in the Waitaki Valley

By Kris Polly

In this month’s cover story, we interview Alisa Nicholls, who with her husband, Paul, owns River‑T Wines in Kurow. We learn about River‑T’s production, its prime location on the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, and why the Waitaki Valley is an up-and-coming wine region. We also hear about how irrigation ties into River‑T’s operations.

Then, we speak with John Watts, a senior counselor to Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton. His message: Drought and aridification are going to be huge challenges for all interest groups across the U.S. West, and Reclamation is here to help. We speak about the innovations and investments that Reclamation is helping to facilitate.

We also speak with Michael Hagman, the general manager of the Lindmore Irrigation District and the executive director of the East Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency in California’s Central Valley. Both entities have been taking steps to recharge groundwater in the area and make additional water available for local farmers.

Then, we speak with Ron Platt, a board member of Idaho’s Boise Project Board of Control, and Bob Carter, its project manager, about proposed legislation that would help fund the rehabilitation of canals of urban concern. This is a pressing concern for the Boise Project, as urban sprawl is increasingly encroaching on one of its major canals.

Sentinel Fertigation’s N‑Time solution uses satellite imagery to help farmers improve nitrogen use efficiency and save money. We speak with Founder and CEO Jackson Stansell about the results of recent testing and how interested growers can get involved in on- farm trials of their own.

Then, we speak with President Steven Huth of TechnoFlo Systems about the numerous product lines the company manufactures and markets, including meters, monitors, and telemetry solutions.

We also speak with Shane Lewis, the CEO of Australian company Streamwise Digital Intelligence, which has created an AI-powered platform that gathers and digests data on water and wastewater treatment systems in order to provide them to users in an easy-to-use format.

Finally, we speak with Richard Hill, a co-owner of Oamaru Sports and Outdoors. He tells us about the outdoor sports opportunities in the Waitaki Valley, including hunting and fishing.

Investment and innovation are among the most important ways that all stakeholders—including government agencies, irrigation districts, and private-sector businesses—can respond to increasing drought and aridification. I hope you enjoy reading about the steps our water leaders are taking in this month’s issue.

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.