Community Irrigation Fund - About the Community Irrigation Fund
About the Community Irrigation Fund
The Community Irrigation Fund
The Community Irrigation Fund (CIF) aims to build resilience in agricultural producers and rural communities, and ensure their long-term economic growth within sustainable environmental limits by reducing the risks they face from water shortages caused by climate change.
The CIF provides grants to assist:
- promoters of community water storage and/or irrigation schemes generate investor and/or community support; and
- local government to undertake activities contributing to a strategic plan for water management and that consider the potential for rural irrigation-related infrastructure.
A total of $5.7 million (excluding GST) spread over eight years (2008/09 to 2015/16) is available to provide financial support for up to 50 percent of valid costs to successful applicants. The Fund is contestable and began accepting applications in 2007/08 and applications will be accepted until 2011/12 for a maximum of three years for local government water strategies and four years for community schemes.
Applications for 2010/11 close on Monday 22 February 2010. Applicant groups must be New Zealand-registered legal entities.
Community schemes
The CIF helps agricultural producers and rural communities adapt to climate change by assisting promoters of community water storage and/or irrigation schemes overcome the high transaction costs of generating investor and/or community support.
A community scheme is one that is initiated, developed and used by multiple members of a rural community, primarily for irrigation.
Water strategies
The CIF was expanded in 2009 to provide funding for local government-led water strategies.
Water strategies should be led by local government, involving other relevant agencies, and involve strategic planning for integrated water management. A water strategy should consider the potential of an area for rural irrigation-related infrastructure to best meet community needs and aspirations.
Funding available
- The CIF is contestable and will accept applications over the five years from 2007/08 to 2011/12. Payments will be made from the CIF from 2008/09 until 2015/16, after which it will cease.
- Successful community scheme applicants will receive funding for up to 50 percent of the cash costs of generating investor and/or community support, for a maximum of four years.
- Successful local government applicants will receive funding for up to 50 percent of the costs of developing a water strategy, for a maximum of three years.
- There is no minimum or maximum level of grant for any one group. However, because the amount available for grants is limited, the value of grants given to any group may be based on:
- the area of land to be irrigated and/or the volume of water to be stored; and
- the impact a water strategy is likely to have on water storage and irrigation schemes in its related region/district.
- In exceptional cases, if funds allow and with the permission of MAF's Deputy Director General (Policy), funding may be granted for a longer period.
Community schemes
What can grants be used for?
You can use grants for activities that generate investor and/or community support for community water storage and/or irrigation schemes.
Activities for which you could use grants include:
- supporting a project manager or public affairs co-ordinator;
- promotional and communications activities;
- facilitating discussions with the community on relevant issues;
- developing a governance model;
- developing a prospectus for potential investors in the community;
- investigating a range of potential scheme funding arrangements;
- facilitating farmer investment (e.g. showing farmers the benefits and costs of irrigation); and
- investigating possibilities for the multiple use of water by communities (e.g. recreational opportunities).
What can't grants be used for?
You can not use grants for:
- capital expenditure or the physical construction of schemes;
- pre-feasibility or feasibility studies for water storage or irrigation schemes, which are potentially funded by MAF's Sustainable Farming Fund (www.maf.govt.nz/sff);
- activities more appropriately funded by other Funds or organisations;
- assisting with in-kind (non-cash) costs;
- participation in statutory processes (e.g. resource consent applications) or litigation;
- local or central government fees or charges;
- legal and bank costs;
- long-term, on-going costs of an organisation/project beyond the grant period; and
- retrospective costs.
Water strategies
What can grants be used for?
You can use grants for activities that contribute to a strategy for integrated water management that considers the potential for rural irrigation-related infrastructure. The aim of the strategy should be the management of water that best meets community needs and aspirations.
The overall water strategy (though not one of the activities funded by the CIF) should be incorporated into relevant Regional Policy Statements, Regional Plans and District Plans.
Activities should be more than a routine task that a council does as part of its statutory role and/or as part of normal business management. However, a lower level of funding (up to 25 percent) for such activities will be considered for councils that have less resources.
Grants could be used for strategies that focus on catchments, groundwater resources or specific areas. The applicant must demonstrate how the activities will underpin a Strategic Water Plan for the region/area.
Activities for which you could use grants include:
- technical reports such as:
- water resource assessments
- water demand reports
- environmental flow reports (restricted funding available) for the management of rivers e.g. flow investigation reports (flow and/or landscape related);
- environmental impact reports;
- economic impact reports;
- social impact reports;
- development of evaluation criteria;
- writing a strategy;
- consultation with experts, stakeholders and public;
- providing information for communities and determining community preferences on the options;
- promotional and communication activities;
- supporting a project manager; and
- project administration costs.
What can't grants be used for?
- water strategies that don’t consider rural water infrastructure;
- funding infrastructure (e.g. irrigation schemes, hydrological monitoring sites etc);
- feasibility studies for individual schemes (see Sustainable Farming Fund and Sustainable Management Fund) ;
- costs associated with legal action or opinion; e.g. expenses incurred in environment court;
- processes associated with incorporating a water strategy into regional or district plans;
- retrospective costs; and
- activities that are part of a council’s statutory role or normal business management, unless funding them can be justified on the basis of need.
How does the CIF differ from the Sustainable Farming Fund?
Both the Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) and the CIF provide grants on a contestable basis for different stages of the development of water storage and irrigation schemes.The SFF supports projects that contribute to improving the financial and environmental performance of the land-based productive sectors. It provides grants for pre-feasibility and feasibility studies for water storage and irrigation schemes. In addition, the SFF has funded numerous other water related (and many non-water related) projects, such as a Code of Practice and Design Standards for irrigation, improving irrigation water efficiency, and guidelines for the design of piped irrigation distribution systems.
The CIF focuses on assisting scheme proposals that have completed a feasibility study (or similar) advance to the next phase of development. Both the SFF and the CIF fund activities that generate community support for schemes. However, because raising community (and investor) support for schemes generally intensifies following the completion of a feasibility study and prior to applying for resource consents, the CIF focuses on assisting scheme promoters at this point.
Promoters of community water storage and/or irrigation schemes can apply to the SFF for assistance with a feasibility study, and once this is completed, apply to the CIF for funding for the next phase of scheme development.
Contact for Enquiries
Senior Project Adviser
Natural Resources Group
MAF Policy
PO Box 2526
WELLINGTON 6140
Telephone: (04) 894 0632
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