“If it’s getting hotter, New Zealand needs to prioritise water storage, which is the kind of future proofing infrastructure investment New Zealand needs,” says Don Nicolson, president of Federated Farmers.

"This isn’t an issue of market failure but sensible economic planning as the 2007/08 El Nino influenced drought cost the economy $2.8 billion. Despite this, we are spending a small fraction on water storage - just $700,000 per annum through the Community Irrigation Fund.

“Given the tens of millions of dollars of time and money spent on developing the emissions trading scheme and other policies, it seems lunacy that we are not putting that same level of commitment into water storage.

“The simple truth is that water pays the bills and while New Zealand does not lack for annual rainfall, we chronically lack the means to store it.

“Summer should be the season of maximum agricultural output but pasture and crops need water as well as sunshine hours and soil temperature to flourish.

“NIWA indicates we’re getting the heat but without water storage we’re missing the economic boat. Storing water during times of plenty to irrigate over dry spells is commonsense but needs policy and some fiscal investment.

“There’s a range of options from on-farm storage to medium sized dams like Opuha and the big scale schemes too. Every single New Zealander depends on the agricultural sector to generate 64 out of every 100 cents we sell as goods to the rest of the world.

“Economic analysis of the Opuha Dam shows that $8 in payback comes from every dollar invested. That benefits the environment and tourism, too. For while other rivers have dried up the Opihi River that Opuha supports is still flowing.

“You can’t fish a dry river bed, which illustrates why the Government has to back the agricultural and horticultural backbone by investing in productive infrastructure like water storage and rural broadband.

“New Zealand needs this to excel in an ever changing world,” Mr Nicolson said.