Launch of the installation of hydraulic meters connected to the collective irrigated perimeters of the provinces of New Caledonia.

In New Caledonia, there are several collective irrigation schemes based on hydraulic infrastructures built by the provinces and of which management has been entrusted to users' associations.

In the South Province for instance, the schemes in place are managed by the free hydro-agricultural trade union associations of Ouaménie (Boulouparis) and Tamoa (Païta), each covering an area of around 400 ha.

In the Northern Province, the collective irrigation networks are located in Pouembout, Pouanlotch (Voh) and Ouégoa. In the Loyalty Islands, the province has set up collective agricultural networks in Lifou and Maré. These infrastructures are coming to the end of their capacity to extend in terms of irrigable agricultural surface area.

The connected meters set up in these sectors will be decision support tools for farmers and management services. The aim is to achieve an optimised and objective management of irrigation infrastructures (optimisation of withdrawals, increase in the yield of water releases from storage infrastructures, etc.), in consultation with the users of the catchment areas concerned thanks to various tools (counting of the flows withdrawn in view of the water resource in real time, probes for triggering irrigation, etc.).

Moreover, this project will allow to easily retrieve yield/water consumption ratios according to the different speculations and the promotion of the most water-saving techniques.

This action is launched in January 2021.