Irrigation demand throughout the Opuha system has risen sharply since the start of November. Recent rain has dampened demand, but prior to this the scheme…
It was late November before we really got underway with irrigation but it ramped up quickly and by mid-December we were receiving orders for over 5 cumecs.
Farmers are fastidious weather record keepers with detailed records going back to before some of the official records. Farmers also work outdoors and depend on the outdoors for our livelihood; farmers, if anything, are weather obsessives.
The company behind the Opuha Dam said yesterday’s release of water was an “interesting test”, but is not sure whether it has solved the build-up of didymo. Yesterday, it had planned to release up to 40 cumecs, about four times the Opihi River’s average flow, but Opuha Water chief executive Tony McCormick said it had only got up to 32 cumecs.