After their previous irrigation service ended, local producers came together to find a path forward. They formed the Noble Creek Irrigation Society (NCIS) and built a shared system to secure reliable water for their farms, with support from the Agricultural Water Infrastructure Program (AWI). 

“Irrigation is important in this region because it’s like a desert. Without water we don’t have farms,” says Adam Woodward, Production Manager at Privato Winery and Co-Director of the NCIS. 

The area had long relied on a shared irrigation system, but when that service was no longer available, producers were left without a dependable water source. In response, they organized as a community to develop their own solution—one that could support both current operations and future growth. 

With support from the AWI program, distributed by IAF, the NCIS designed and constructed a new intake and distribution system. The system draws water from the North Thompson River using a two-stage pumping process, which supplies water to approximately 1,000 acres of farmland across the region. The new intake and community irrigation system is an over $836,000 project. It is expected to be completed by spring 2026. 

Today, the system is helping ensure farms can continue operating in a water-scarce environment, while also creating opportunities to expand agricultural production in the area. 

For Woodward, the result is straightforward: “The Noble Creek Irrigation Society means that we’re able to expand farming in our community.”