"Growers will be able to start to look at tree crops and other types of horticulture,'' he said.
"Water becomes a lever that we can use to make our crops more valuable."
Kaipara Water is part of Kaipara KickStart, led by Kaipara District Council and funded by the Provincial Development Unit.
Northland Inc, which delivers the Kaipara Kai Hub, will be contracted by the council to manage the demonstration sites once they are established.
Building on the work of Kaipara Kai, the demonstration sites will support diversifying land use in the district, educating landowners about different types of smart water use by showcasing innovative irrigation technologies.
As well as regular community events and guided site visits, a time-lapse web camera will be set up to capture crop growth and site development.
Punter said there would be an element of experimentation in the trial crops so the results of different water allocations could be seen.
Local landowners would have direct access to practical examples, expert advice and education in water, crop and irrigation solutions.
The community demonstration sites are entirely paid for by funding from the Provincial Development Unit, which allocated $740,000 to the project. As well as the set-up costs, the funding covers the management and maintenance of the sites for the three-to-four-year project. There are no ratepayer contributions and landowners are not paid for their participation.
Demonstration site one is on iwi land at Maunganui Bluff, north of Dargaville.
The council is working with the Te Roroa Development Group to showcase irrigation that can be easily scaled up or down, depending on what crops are being watered. The first crops on this site include watermelon, squash and sweetcorn.
The site includes an in-ground irrigation system managed remotely through a web application to deliver water and fertiliser to vegetable crops in precise amounts. Water supply is from a farm creek, captured in a tank and gravity fed to the demonstration site.
Te Roroa Development Group general manager Snow Tane said he was excited about the potential employment opportunities for iwi members and horticultural opportunities for the future.
The iwi owns seven farms covering about 3100ha in the area, which are run as beef blocks. Currently, they farm more than 2000 head of mixed-age Angus as well as Charolais-cross and Friesians.
"We had been thinking about diversification, and we have the land and we have the water. There is a good water source on our land that is absolutely beautiful, sweet water and after several severe droughts we bit the bullet and put in a water system.
"Our aim is to become self-sufficient, with no need to buy in stock and everything grown on the land.
"This horticulture project is an opportunity to develop new skills and to see what it can do for us," Tane said. "It's an aspiration of ours to go into horticulture."
The Te Kopuru site (site two), owned by the Rope family, is located within the future water storage scheme area managed by Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust. The teams from both projects are working closely on the interlinked projects, sharing guidance on water infrastructure solutions.
A centre-pivot irrigator is being installed which has a 242-metre span and can irrigate roughly 10 hectares. First crops include sorghum, maize and sweetcorn. Water will be gradually taken from a nearby creek under an existing resource consent and stored in a pond that will be built as part of the project.
Punter said the Te Kopuru site would show the possibilities of a commercial-scale irrigation scheme, similar to what would be seen in Canterbury or Hawke's Bay.
Work has started on setting up the site, and the irrigation system is being shipped from Australia.
Owner Michael Rope said he was looking forward to being involved in the project. He runs 950 cows on a 450ha dairy farm. About 2ha is being set aside for the water trial site.
Water has been an issue during drought conditions.
Mayor Dr Jason Smith believes the demonstration sites will be immeasurably valuable to better understand how to use precious water resources in the Kaipara district.
"Smart and innovative use of our water resources is critical for our community wellbeing and for our economy. These demo sites are huge opportunities to learn about new irrigation technologies and how they can be used across Kaipara, from Mangawhai to Maunganui Bluff," said Mayor Smith.
The project team is working closely with Kauri Coast Contracting, Think Water Northland, Bay Irrigation as well as the Kaipara Kai Hub.
