IrrigationNZ has launched its 2026 election manifesto, calling for legislative certainty and Crown capital to de-risk new water storage schemes, with Chair Andrew Mockford saying the country cannot afford to keep re-litigating the value of infrastructure built to last a century.

“We’re looking for coordination effectively, as the infrastructure that will enable water to be captured when it’s plentiful, and then used from those storage reservoirs when it’s scarce,” he says.

“When we build infrastructure, it’s going to be around for 50 to 100 years.”

Mockford wants RMA legislation to treat water infrastructure the way roads and bridges are treated, so schemes are not forced to re-litigate their value every decade.

IrrigationNZ wants coordination to run across all of government, and he says the appointment of Mike Butterick to an associate agriculture role covering water storage is a step in the right direction. Workforce development is the third priority, with skills planning needed to build the capacity to underpin the sector long-term.

“At the early stages of a scheme being developed, there’s a lot of risk there as to whether this is actually viable, and it can be hard to find the capital to do that pre-work.

“That’s where the government can come in with an element of assisting to really understand whether that scheme is viable or not, and sort of de-risk it at that early stage.”

Mockford also says government should aggregate potential schemes into a portfolio approach rather than letting each one find its own capital independently.

“We’ve got, let’s say there’s a dozen schemes that have got potential across New Zealand.

“We’re also looking for government to try and aggregate those into a sort of a portfolio of work, so that we’re not trying to do things 12 different ways.”

He says they are politically agnostic and will speak with all parties at Fieldays.

“We need to be talking with every party around, making sure that what we’re putting forward fits with all of their views so that we don’t get flip-flops as we go through different political cycles.”

The full manifesto can be read here.

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