Water pressure: irrigation, governance and land use intensification in Maungatapere, New Zealand.

摘要

This paper considers the ways in which state-supported proposals for an irrigation scheme contributed to reorienting land use and community dynamics in Maungatapere, a semi-rural locality in Northland, New Zealand. This scheme was first proposed inthe early 1980s, a time when key preoccupations of the state included protecting primary industry and promoting land-based production. Soon after, however, such intervention was seriously challenged by free-market philosophies, and state ownership and maintenance of irrigation schemes gave way to user pays and privatization. At Maungatapere, these changes resulted in delays in approval for the irrigation scheme, a reduction in its area, and the eventual development of an infrastructure which was rapidlysold to private interests. We draw on historical evidence and 1997 survey data (a total of 42 landowners were interviewed) to explore landowner decision-making and perceptions. Our analysis incorporates contemporary concerns for land use intensification, governance and community sustainability. We interpret the irrigation scheme as always having been an object of governance, from its initial conception as a community scheme in the context of assisted agriculture, through to its subsequent metamorphosisinto a proprietary scheme reflecting a more market-oriented government vision. We conclude that a focus on one specific place offers insights into the processes whereby policy is translated into practices.