Providing reliable, economic and sustainable supply
Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd (WIL) is a run-of-river scheme with resource consent to take water from the Waimakariri River to irrigate 23,000 hectares. It is one of the largest schemes in the South Island. Ensuring farmers actively manage irrigation to guarantee water is being used efficiently is central to the core of WIL.
Environmental stewardship is a vital part of WIL’s daily operations. The company is recognised as a leader in water management, providing access to a reliable, economic and sustainable supply.
Wright’s Road Storage Ponds
In 2007 WIL purchased a 120 ha property at Wright’s Road, Burnt Hill, North Canterbury. In June 2013 WIL was granted a building consent to construct an 8.2 million m3 water storage facility.
The water in the storage ponds will be used to augment water from the irrigation scheme when water from the run-of-the-river supply is limited or unavailable, due to either high flow or low flow conditions in the Waimakariri River.
The reliability of the water is a relatively low 75% and the addition of storage would allow it to be lifted to a relatively high 92% level.
