The Waiareka scheme was opened in 1976 and takes 450 litres per second of water from the north side of the Waiau River at an intake point east of the Waiau Township. This scheme waters over 400ha on eight farms by border dyke and spray irrigation from a single flow race on a 12 day rotation.
Water is fed into a settling pond with two fish bypass races adjacent to the fish screen leading back to the river. The fish screen is rotated using a paddle wheel as there is no electricity on site. There are two discharge points for unused water toward the bottom of the scheme.
In July 2018, we started a project to install a 5km pipe and pond at Waiareka. This is due for completion in October 2018.
The Balmoral Scheme was built in 1985. Water is diverted from the Hurunui River below the Mandamus confluence into a diversion race on the north bank. The water then runs down a race to a control gate structure and then into a settlement pond. Any surplus water can be returned to the river at this point. A fish screen and intake are located at the head of this pond and the rate of flow into the intake is controlled by a radial gate at the river intake and a second gate at the head of the pond. The consent allows for 5 cubic metres per second of water to be taken.
The Waiau scheme is the largest scheme for AIC and was completed in 1978. It takes 11 cubic metres per second of water from the Waiau River at the Leslie Hills Road Bridge, which is then gravity fed along open races towards farmland closer to the townships of Culverden and Rotherham.
The scheme was originally set up for borderdyke irrigation which meant a standard unit flow of 0.35 cubic metres per second was provided to each property once every 17 days during the irrigation season. Now 99% of irrigation within this scheme is by spray irrigation.
Client
Waiau Scheme
Project Date
1978
Share This
Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
