Irrigation

Since New Zealand's maritime climate ensures a generally abundant and reasonably uniform distribution of rainfall in most areas, dependence of the economy on land irrigation is not extensive; the use of dams of any but minor size is confined to Central Otago. The development of water resources for irrigation in Central Otago is a Government undertaking that was put into effect some years ago. None of the several dams in the system would be rated large, however, by standards elsewhere.