How Irrigation New Zealand Promotes Innovation and Sustainability
The rich agricultural land of the Canterbury Plains area of New Zealand’s South Island.
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rrigation New Zealand is a member-founded industry organization committed to representing the interests of New Zealand’s irrigation sector and promoting best practices across the industry. With new environmental standards and water management regulations currently being discussed by New Zealand’s government, Irrigation New Zealand is keeping abreast of the policy discussion and preparing to help its members implement and abide by the new laws. In this interview, Elizabeth Soal, chief executive officer (CEO) of Irrigation New Zealand speaks with Irrigation Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly about her organization’s involvement in the policymaking process and how it is promoting positive environmental outcomes. Kris Polly: Please tell us about your background.
6 | IRRIGATION LEADER
Kris Polly: Please tell us about the history of Irrigation New Zealand. Elizabeth Soal: Irrigation New Zealand has a vision of irrigation for a thriving and sustainable New Zealand. It was originally formed as a technical organization in the 1970s and then it went into a bit of a hiatus. It was relaunched in the early 2000s, when it was recognized that there was a need for an organization dedicated to representing the interests of irrigation schemes, irrigating farmers, and the irrigation service industry in New Zealand that would also do things like setting technical standards and providing guidance for the industry as a whole. We are a not-for-profit organization with a voluntary membership. We are run by a board of directors. We have a small team of eight based in both the North and South Islands. Our main office is in Lincoln, which is on the South Island near Christchurch, because the majority of irrigation in New Zealand happens in the Canterbury region.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LARRY KOESTER.
Elizabeth Soal: I started in the role of CEO of Irrigation New Zealand at the end of February 2019. Prior to that, I worked for 8 or 9 years with the Waitaki Irrigators Collective, which is a group of six irrigation schemes and independent irrigators in the area of North Otago and South Canterbury on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. I was the director of strategy and policy and did a lot of work related to planning, relationship management, and general water issues. Prior to that, I was a government policy advisor for the lower South Island at the Ministry of Social Development, based
in Dunedin. My role there involved looking at issues related to things like unemployment, labor market development, and social programs. Prior to that, I was at the Ministry of Justice of New Zealand. I hold degrees in politics and law, and I’m currently studying for a PhD in geography with a focus on water governance.
