Drought Highlights Storage Issue

In February the region was declared a drought zone, after six months of less than average rainfall. In fact the rainfall levels between July 2014 and January 2015 were the lowest in 86 years. 

Rivers began to dry up and more than half the water consents from local rivers were withdrawn for large periods of time. The hardest hit was the Southern Valleys, and members of the Southern Valley Irrigation Scheme. The scheme provides water to around 450 users, covering a total of close to 4500 hectares. While a number of those on the scheme also have ponds they can draw from, there were many others that were left high and dry for long periods of time when the water consents were shut down. Adding to that many aquifers were sitting at low levels, meaning some growers had to rely on water being delivered in tankers, to ensure the vines received some form of moisture.

 “Wine likes dry weather but this is pushing things a little too far,” says IrrigationNZ CEO, Andrew Curtis. 

There were pockets of vines throughout the region that were showing signs of stress, well before harvest began. What impact that will have on the ensuing wines is yet to be determined.

And given the continual talk about global warming, it is unlikely that this drought event will be the last the region experiences. Which has got people talking about how they can prepare for similar conditions.

Curtis says it has brought to the forefront the need for increased water storage in the region.

 “This year has been a bit of a wake-up call for the (wine) industry – that maybe some sort of community water storage is essential. It is a high value crop and the criticalness of having water at the right time for grapes, means you may need to design for a much higher reliability than had been previously thought.”

Having a community storage resource could take pressure off those not involved in the scheme, he says.

“That’s the beauty of water storage, it sometimes allows you to create agreements with a whole lot of users, where maybe some people continue on the river, while others go to storage. It doesn’t have to be something that is designed for everybody to take out of. It can be designed so a few people take out, which takes pressure off the river, giving another week or so for others
to irrigate.” 

Ivan Sutherland from Dog Point Vineyard was involved in establishing the Southern Valley Irrigation Scheme and says that when it was being developed a water storage option was proposed but it was perceived for many as too expensive. 

“At the time it would have prevented people coming on board to the scheme, but if
we had that storage now, the scheme wouldn’t have been briefly shut off in January and February this year and the smaller vineyards which don’t have their own wells or dams wouldn’t be facing the concerns they are now.”