Highlands Irrigation - 'the Waterpeople'
Beef in BC - May 2004

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Dick and Donna Ford are partners, in every sense of the word. Together they own and operate Highlands Irrigation Limited, a business presently celebrating it's thirtieth anniversary in business. They are 'the Waterpeople'. The couple started small, in Williams Lake, back in the 1970's. That little business is now the largest, independent Irrigation Company in our province today. While the company they began celebrates thirty years in existence, their other partnership (marriage) has been going strong for thirty-seven years now.

Dick was born and raised in Rotorua, New Zealand (North Island) on a sheep station that his father began in the 1950's. The family carved a homestead and station out of the bush, there was nothing to start with, in later years it was a thriving family operation. Dick and Donna still own part of that family operation and with the help of a capable manager, run an active sheep station at home in New Zealand to this day. They run about 2200 ewes, finish about 200 weaned dairy bulls yearly and have a few cows. The couple still spends six weeks to two months per year there in the irrigation off-season. Donna was originally a city kid, born and raised in Vancouver, BC. Travel brought the pair together. Traveling in the 1960's, each landed in London, England for a time and it is there that they met each other.

In 1967, they were married in Vancouver, and left, as Dick told me, "For New Zealand, where we planned to live for the rest of our lives". Plans change - it's a fact of life. The couple returned to Vancouver two years later and Dick went to work for a company called the British American Chemical Company. The company sideline was to supply irrigation pipe. Later that year, the Ford's moved to Williams Lake (Kamloops was their preference, but the company already had a representative there) and set up shop in a small corner of the Armes Brothers' business. The company changed hands a time or two and by 1973 was pretty much out of business.

Dick and Donna decided to take a chance on their own initiative and began their fledgling company in a portion of the Lake City Central building, offering for sale; pipe, fittings and wheel lines. Dick ran the consultation,technical and installation part of the day to day business. Donna was in charge of books, promotion and advertising, and later supervising the staff, as is still the case for both of them today. To learn more about bookkeeping Donna returned to college 1974 to study accounting that would benefit her in her new job.

With a lot of hard work came success, the business thrived and the company outgrew its portion of the shared building. In 1976 Dick and Donna took a giant step and built a new headquarters on South Lakeside, where the operation is still based today. At first, they rented out a few offices in their new building to other companies, but by the middle 1980's however, they had grown to need all of the space and now occupy the large building on their own. The staff has grown considerably and many of the employees have been with the company for quite a number of years. Dick and Donna are still very involved with the day-to-day operation of the company, playing much the same roles as they had originally decided upon. It is a testimony to the strength of both their business and personal relationship that the partnership sails on in calm waters.

The couple has four grown children, Julie, Michael, Christopher and Jennifer, all of whom pursue other careers at this point. There is no heir apparent to the family business at the moment. All the children have worked with their parents in the past. Retirement is still in the future for Dick and Donna. Dick says, "It's really not too bad, because the business is so seasonal - we do go like crazy for a few months, but then things slow down and even out. If we went like crazy all year round I might think more about retirement, sooner. As it is, I'm not thinking about it at all, really."

Highlands Irrigation is in the business of supplying the means to deliver water to your forage crop, your home or your herd, etc. in the most advantageous, economical way that works for your particular situation. They have employees (and Dick) who can come to your place for an on-site session to look at and discuss what your goals are. Sometimes the setup is simple, other situations need much more ingenuity to find a practical way to get the water in place.

The company has three divisions: domestic, industrial and agriculture. It is the latter that concerns a majority of their customers. Basically stated, "We design complete irrigation systems, including pumps, mainlines and distribution systems, " Dick says. "Most of the water here is from lakes, rivers and streams. Some offer the opportunity for gravity systems, saving the need for extra energy costs. The technology hasn't changed a great deal. Originally people flood irrigated. We've seen, since the 1950's, sprinkler irrigation progressing from hand lines, to wheel lines, then travelling sprinklers on hose reels and finally to pivot systems."

While the irrigation of forage crops is the mainstay of the agricultural water application systems they design, ginseng has become a more popular crop and it has other design requirements for it's watering systems.

Domestic water systems are set up or customers who are not on city water systems. The company supplies pumps, water purification systems, water softeners, pressure tanks, aluminum pontoons for docks, flagpoles and livestock watering systems. Anything basically, that has to do with pipe and water, together or separately. Industrial customers (mines, sawmills, etc) require pumps, pipe and related fittings.
Dick supplies material to places all over the province, especially in the industrial field. They had an office in Cloverdale for several years, but they decided to concentrate more on forage crop systems and closed the doors on the coastal division. They now have a resident salesperson in Kelowna.

There is a new product available that should interest the ranching community. It is called K-Line Irrigation. Described as "a revolutionary flexible hose line sprinkler irrigation system designed to reduce the time and money you spend on irrigation. It is small, flex can be run on low pressure and is designed to distribute water on a slow absorption method for up to a 24-hour period, eliminating the need to move the system several times a day." Dick believes that the system has great potential for irrigating small pasture's including small acreage's that are owned by horse enthusiasts or hobby farmers. The business is very much a seasonal thing and it is high season right now, from about the beginning of April until the end of June there is 'No Rest, No Slow Time, No Breathing spaces..just endless Go, Go, Go for Donna, Dick and their capable staff'. It's a real team effort that demands patience, tireless effort and the ability to roll with whatever each day brings.

When asked what he sees as his biggest accomplishment over thirty years in the irrigation business, Dick took a moment to ponder the question and replied, "I still get a huge amount of satisfaction from seeing the end result of our expertise and work. You do an on-site assessment somewhere where there has been no previous irrigation system. Then you design a system that will work best for that site, in the simplest, most economical form possible, you set it up, get the water going and leave. Later you return and see the crop or pasture that has grown in leaps and bounds as a result of the water being applied. The client is happy and I'm happy. Even after all of these years it still gives me immense pleasure to see what a difference has been made."

The irrigation business is always evolving, new knowledge is necessary, there is an Irrigation Association that has standards that must be maintained; Dick has gone through the certification and examination process. Co-operation with government and regulations is a must, the new Environmental Farm Plans must also be considered and applied by the Irrigation Company. 'The Waterpeople' have a lot to keep up with.

by Liz Twan