North Otago will get to know the economic benefits and impact of the North Otago Irrigation Company's scheme which is now delivering water to 10,000ha on the downlands and in the Waiareka and Kakanui Valleys.
The Waitaki Development Board has commissioned a $10,000 economic impact assessment of the scheme from Stuart Ford, of the AgriBusiness Group, who is familiar with North Otago and, in particular, the North Otago scheme.
Development board member Fraser McKenzie said yesterday the assessment would be carried out by a survey of farmers who took water from the scheme.
It would review the situation before irrigation and after it.
The assessment would examine the $66 million capital cost of the scheme, on-farm investment by farmers, farm financial performance before and after, jobs created and increased spending in the North Otago economy.
Mr McKenzie said results were likely to show it was not just farmers, but the whole community who had benefited from the scheme through more jobs and increased spending.
"We are trying to put a figure on what the scheme has been worth to North Otago as a whole, particularly during the recent recession and drought," he said.
Construction of the scheme, which uses water from the lower Waitaki River taken from the Lower Waitaki Irrigation Company's pond at Bortons, started in February 2005.
The scheme was funded by farmer users, Meridian Energy and the Waitaki District Council, which put up a $10 million loan to ensure the initial infrastructure could handle a second stage of 10,000ha.
Meridian has now sold all its shares in the scheme to farmers wanting water.
The first water from the scheme flowed on to farms in early September 2006, and the scheme was officially opened on October 27 and 28, 2006.
