Community and Purpose
BCI’s Purpose is: “Enabling a successful farming future“.
We aim to deliver reliable and cost effective water to our shareholders today, and for future generations. We will do this by supporting shareholders’ environmental performance, enabling the best environmental and regulatory outcomes. The way we work will foster trust within our team, by our shareholders, and with our wider stakeholders.
Irrigators
Our irrigators are family farming businesses that produce high quality food for NZ consumption and export. Working closely together under the BCI cooperative banner, they share innovation and expertise, continually improve their water use and management, and demonstrate their environmental commitment.
Service Providers and Contractors
While BCI is a relatively small organisation, by developing strong partnerships, we are able to meet the service needs of our irrigators’ sophisticated, world class farming systems, and our own network of high-tech infrastructure.
Our dedicated and experienced Operations Team work alongside other local businesses and larger contractors who are specialists in their fields (electrical, engineering, earthmoving etc) so we can attend to any infrastructure issues or faults at short notice.
Other Irrigation Schemes
Irrigated Mid Canterbury farmland is made up of a number of larger and smaller schemes, as well as independent irrigators. BCI leverages the expertise of our experienced and dedicated team to support smaller schemes with their financial, administrative and governance support needs.
We provide these services to Acton Farmers Irrigation Co-Operative, Rangitata South Irrigation Ltd and Greenstreet Irrigation.
Our Joint Venture company Enviro Collective Ltd supports both BCI shareholders, as well AFIC, RSIL and Greenstreet, with their environmental requirements, fostering a spirit of environmental stewardship and continuous improvement which is integral to achieving our purpose.
We share office space, and work closely with MHV Water and Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Ltd, jointly undertaking water quality monitoring across the catchment to proactively understand and inform solutions to the challenge of balancing the economic, environmental and social needs of our Community.
Wider Stakeholders
BCI is about more than just delivering irrigation water to our shareholders. We are an integral part of a vibrant community, both rural and urban, made up of many different organisations and stakeholders.
The Ashburton District Council, other regional irrigation schemes, Te Runanga o Arowhenua, and Environment Canterbury all have an interest in managing the district’s natural resources. We proactively engage with these organisations and partners, endeavouring to understand and accommodate their interests with the aim of working together – fostering trust, transparency and understanding – to achieve our purpose.
One example of this was to make our pipe network available for the delivery of emergency water supplies to the NZ Fire Brigade through the installation of approximately 30 hydrants across the district.