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Editorial – by Iris Vogeler I have just returned from a trip to Europe, where I attended the Water Resources Management Conference that took place in the island of Malta. Water management is a topic of growing concern all over the world, and water has become a very precious resource. The Maltese Islands are densely populated and with an average annual rainfall of 578 mm one can easily understand that potable water has always been a challenge. There are no surface waters that can be exploited easily, and groundwater is under increasing competition. Historically Maltese people have coped with water scarcity through a limited allocation of water per person. Since the early 1970‘s a large portion, now over 50%, of the urban water demand has been coming from de-salination plants. The population and tourists are now served with good quality drinking and the ―water culture‖ takes only limited interest in efficient use of water resources. Between 200 and 2007 the largest consumption of water, with 25%, was by Hotels and Restaurants, and agriculture and related services only used 5%. Farmers are generally more conscious of the importance of water conservation, but increased irrigation demand has resulted in increased salinity of the aquifer systems as a result of seawater intrusion. Currently the aquifers are extracted at twice the recommended amount, and climate change with predicted rainfall decreases in the Mediterranean of 30% will exacerbate the problem. Nitrate contamination due of intensive farming and dependence of oil imports for desalination are of rising concern. With these problems Malta was a perfect scene setting for the Water Resource Management Conference. One of the foci the conference, I would like to draw attention to, was the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000) and the Groundwater Directive (2006) with the objective to harmonise water environmental policy and regulation across Europe. Twelve "Water Information Notes" give an introduction and overview of key aspects of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. If you are interested look at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/participation/notes_en.htm. In NZ we are pretty lucky: less than 5 percent of New Zealand's freshwater was allocated in 2006 (irrigation accounted for 77% of the allocation) and we do not have any neighbouring countries to compete with. However, increasing demands and climate change predictions reinforce the need for careful water resource management in New Zealand. And let‘s see how water footprinting shapes up for us. Have a look at Brent Clothier‘s thoughts on this (NZ Herald, 15.9.2009). Leaving it with these thoughts I and wish you all the best for the remaining year. Valletta, Capital of Malta Iris Vogeler 154
Obituary – Elwyn Griffiths (22.8.1931 - 5.8.2009) Obituary by his wife Elizabeth, and notes of appreciation from colleagues. Elwyn Griffiths, who died on August 5th, will be remembered as a soil scientist, and particularly as an irrigation consultant, by orchardists, viticulturalists, pastoral and cropping farmers and others, especially in Hawke's Bay but also in other parts of New Zealand. Born in 1931 in rural Wales, he overcame extreme poverty and ill health to gain a scientific education at Cardigan Grammar School and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, majoring in chemistry, botany, and zoology. His National Service in the British army took him briefly to Germany and Korea. He hated the often mindless disciplines of army life and the class-ridden ignorance of many officers. His first job after graduating was in a testing laboratory Photo: Griffiths family in Slough, near London; however, during the Suez Crisis of 1956 he feared British involvement in another war, so applied and was accepted for a post advertised by the Department of Conservation and Extension in the then Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Here he was introduced to the art and science of surveying, testing and classifying soils in order to decide which areas might be suitable for agricultural development, with or without irrigation. The survey team spent the cooler, winter months in the field, often encamped in wild game-filled bush country, and the warmer wet summer in the soil laboratory in Salisbury (now Harare). In 1960 Elwyn married Elizabeth Albrecht, a South African teaching in Salisbury. In 1963, first Winston Field then the hardline pro-apartheid Ian Smith came to power, absolutely opposed to even the idea of ultimate black rule. Correctly for-seeing trouble, Elwyn accepted an offer from Hunting's Surveys, a British firm contracted to the government of Pakistan, to help investigate the problems of salinization and desertification of soils along the lower Indus River, and to suggest ways of ameliorating and, if possible, reversing the process caused by centuries of everincreasing irrigation. After nearly two years in Pakistan, war broke out - again - between Pakistan and India; funding for the reclamation project dried up and Elwyn, amongst other expatriates, had to find new work. Elwyn had been favourably impressed by the new Zealanders he had met in Korea, so he applied to join New Zealand's Soil Bureau, DSIR, and the family came to New Zealand in March 1966. Initially based in Christchurch, he produced major surveys of Banks Peninsula and Waikari in North Canterbury, as well as being involved in big irrigation schemes on the Waitaki, Maniatoto, and Upper Clutha. From December 1971, a tour through South Africa, parts of England and Wales, Iceland (which, like New Zealand, has volcanic soils, braided rivers and loess), Illinois and California was partly funded by the Soil Bureau, provided that Elwyn visited as many soil science establishments as he could, and wrote detailed reports on his experiences. In June 1972 Elwyn settled in Havelock North, working at the DSIR campus in Goddard Lane. Here he stayed until 1991, when turning 60 meant compulsory retirement from the DSIR. He formed Grifftech Limited, to continue his work of informing, advising, and generally helping potential growers to avoid future problems, and established growers with existing ones. Many of the latter, for instance, had fruit trees dying from phytophthera. Elwyn showed how essential it is to consider the type of soil, depth to water table, expected rainfall, etc, when planning irrigation, and then to tailor the method of irrigation to suit particular sites. He encouraged growers to measure soil moisture regularly, instead of simply watering to a timetable, thereby avoiding over/under watering. He explained how important soil structure is, and how working wet soil destroys that structure, and how heavy 155
Page 1 and 2: Obituary - Elwyn Griffiths New prof
Page 3: Your contributions are required - N
Page 7 and 8: From Phil Tonkin Elwyn joined the S
Page 9 and 10: As I see it, the value of the SWAMP
Page 11 and 12: Announcements New Professor has foc
Page 13 and 14: Notes from CarbonNet Meeting, 24 Se
Page 15 and 16: Prof David Lowe on last year’s
Page 17 and 18: Well done to the Earth Science team
Page 19 and 20: AgResearch Grasslands Iris Vogeler
Page 21 and 22: AgResearch Invermay Cecile de Klein
Page 23 and 24: Guna Magesan has been invited again
Page 25 and 26: Minutes of a meeting of the NZSSS C
Page 27 and 28: CONFERENCES Soils 2008 - Conference
Page 29 and 30: A dynamic framework for spatial mod
Page 31 and 32: Comparison of spatial prediction te
Page 33 and 34: CONFERENCES An Invitation to the 19

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