What's New

The Board has been made aware of several problems arising from the lack of Certified Irrigation Contractors in many regions.  In one case the municipality is contemplating removing the CIC requirement from their bylaws as there is an insufficient number of contractors that can bid on jobs.  This same problem is being experience in other locations.  To have a vibrant CIC program we need to be able to increase capacity, while at the same time keeping the integrity of the program in place.  Unless changes are made the CIC program would become irrelevant.

The biggest obstacle to obtaining the CIC status is the requirement of having a Certified Irrigation Designer on staff.  Companies lose their CIC status when their CID retires or changes companies and they find this requirement difficult to fill in the short term.  This results in the company losing their CIC status which again is something we wish to avoid.

The Certification Board has discussed this issue and has passed a motion that allows companies to source out the CID requirement.  All of the other criteria must still be met by the company.  Companies that are candidates for CIC status can source out a maximum of two individuals that can provide the CID services to their company.  The must obtain a signed statement from that individual indicating that they will provide the required services to the company.  This signed form must be submitted to the IIABC along with the other documentation.  The company can also seek one alternate CID who must also provide a signed statement.  If the company has complied with all of the other criteria, a signed statement from a CID offering their services to that company will be sufficient to obtain CIC status.

This of course raises the question of what about the existing CIC that are listed with the IIABC and have fulfilled all of the requirements including having a CID on staff.  Existing companies and future CIC’s that have a CID on staff will be considered to have premium CIC status.  The Board is implementing a CIC – GSC (Gold Seal Contractor) status.  The contractor will be able to advertise as such and the IIABC will also acknowledge those contactors on their website.

The Board feels that not only will this option have the ability to strengthen the number of CIC contractors in British Columbia it will also strengthen the Certified Irrigation Designer program, as those individuals that obtain CID status will see an opportunity to apply their trade.

Comments to the Certification Board are certainly welcome.  A listing of Board members and contact info can be found under the Contact Us tab.  

Job Postings

If you are looking for skilled irrigation professionals and would like to reach our members, please send job postings to:

iiabc@irrigationbc.com

Please include contact information for interested applicants to send their resumes directly to you as the IIABC office will not be accepting resumes on behalf of companies. We will post in order of newest to oldest and would greatly appreciate if you could let us know when the position has been filled so we can keep our postings as up to date as possible for applicants.

Looking For Work in the Irrigation Industry?

We currently have no new postings. Check back soon!

Does it effect you? What you should know...

On February 29, 2016, the provincial government brought the Water Sustainability Act (WSA) into force along with the first phase of regulations. The Water Sustainability Act updates and replaces the old Water Act and delivers on an important government commitment to ensure our water stays healthy and secure. 

The WSA and new regulations will help protect water flows for ecosystems and fish and include new and improved requirements for groundwater use and licensing, well construction and maintenance, dam safety, and compliance.  Much of this work was informed by public comment and responses to the Province’s policy intentions papers that were released last summer.

Key changes include new licensing requirements for non-domestic groundwater use such as irrigation, industrial purposes, water bottling and community water systems.  For existing groundwater users, the regulations provide a three-year transition period in which to apply for a licence; application fees will be waived for the first 12 months the WSA is in force.  Surface water and non-domestic groundwater users will be subject to the new water fees and rentals announced last year. 

With the size and complexity of the WSA and the number of required regulations, government is implementing the WSA using a phased approach.  Work on the next phase of regulations and policies will be initiated later this year and includes measuring and reporting, livestock watering, water objectives, planning and governance.

If you have questions about the changes or their implications, please visit the websites below or contact: livingwatersmart@gov.bc.ca

The IIABC, with funding from the Ministry of Agriculture's Growing Forward 2 program has upgraded the calculator to allow it to be used on smart phones and tablets.

The new calculator should function for all recent browsers that are within the last 2 versions.
There is also a language toggle on the new calculator for French or English.

We are in a BETA testing phase for this summer where both the old calculator and the new calculator will be available to users.

NEW CALCULATOR ACCESS

To access the new calculator, visit this link: ag-calc.irrigationbc.com
OR
You will find access on the www.irrigationbc.com website at the bottom of the page in the same section as the old calculator button.

Your existing scenarios have been brought into the new calculator; you do not need to create new scenarios. However you WILL have to create a new password for your account by taking the following steps:

1. Go to the new calculator site: ag-calc.irrigationbc.com

2. Click on the green "Help" button found within the "Returning Users" box on the left

3. Enter in your registered account's email address and click "Submit"

An email will be sent to the specified email account containing a link to a page where you will be able to reset your password to a random alphanumeric string. You will be able to log into the user management area with this new temporary password and then change it to a more memorable value.

PROVIDING FEEDBACK

The calculator also has a feedback button that will allow users to provide us with any problems that are incurred during this BETA launch. If you encounter any issues with the new calculator, please use the "REPORT GLITCH" button found in the bottom right hand corner of every page.
NOTE: If you are on a mobile phone or iPad, choose the option to the right, "I have found a glitch regarding this page or site as a whole" to submit your glitch.

We are excited to be able to provide you with this new and improved tool to help you with your irrigation scheduling.

Irrigation Industry Association of BC
Irrigation Scheduling Calculator Administration

AVIS IMPORTANT CONCERNANT LES OUTILS DE PLANIFICATION DE L'IRRIGATION POUR L'AGRICULTURE ET L'HORTICULTURE

Le IIABC, avec le financement du programme Cultivons l'avenir 2 du ministère de l'Agriculture a mis à jour cet outil afin de permettre son utilisation sur les téléphones intelligents et les tablettes.

Cette nouvelle version devrait fonctionner avec tous les navigateurs récents, soit parmi les 2 dernières versions.
Il y a aussi une fonctionnalité permettant le choix de la langue : français ou anglais.

Nous sommes dans une phase de test bêta pour cet été et les deux versions du ISC, l'ancienne et la nouvelle, seront disponibles aux utilisateurs.

Accès à la nouvelle version de l'ISC

Pour accéder à la nouvelle version, visitez ce lien: ag-calc.irrigationbc.com
OU
Vous trouverez un lien au bas de la page du site Internet www.irrigationbc.com, dans la même section que le vieux bouton de l'ISC.

Vos scénarios existants ont été transférés dans le nouvel ISC; vous n’avez pas besoin d'en créer de nouveaux. Cependant, vous devrez créer un nouveau mot de passe pour votre compte en suivant les étapes suivantes:

1. Allez sur le nouveau site du ISC: ag-calc.irrigationbc.com

2. Cliquez sur le bouton vert "Aide" trouvé dans la boîte "utilisateurs déjà inscrits", à gauche

3. Entrez l'adresse courriel de votre compte enregistré et cliquez sur «Soumettre»

Un courriel vous sera envoyé à cette adresse et contiendra un lien vers une page où vous serez en mesure de réinitialiser votre mot de passe à une chaîne alphanumérique aléatoire. Vous pourrez ensuite vous connecter à la zone de gestion des utilisateurs avec ce nouveau mot de passe temporaire puis le modifier pour une version plus facile à retenir.

VOS COMMENTAIRES

La calculatrice a également un bouton de rétroaction qui permettra aux utilisateurs de nous signaler tous les problèmes rencontrés pendant ce lancement de la version BETA. Si vous rencontrez des problèmes, s'il vous plaît utilisez le bouton "RAPPORT DE BOGUES" trouvé dans le coin inférieur droit de chaque page.
NB: Si vous utilisez un téléphone mobile ou iPad, choisissez l'option à droite, "j'ai trouvé un bogue dans cette page ou dans le site dans son ensemble" pour soumettre votre problème.

Nous sommes ravis d'être en mesure de vous offrir ce nouvel outil amélioré pour vous aider avec votre planification de l'irrigation.

Irrigation Industry Association of BC
Irrigation Scheduling Calculator Administration

Learning on Demand
Beginner/Landscape

The IA now offers an Electrical Troubleshooting for Landscape Irrigation Systems course. Learn basic electrical terminology for landscape irrigation systems and how to diagnose common electrical problems found in the field using virtual meters. Develop troubleshooting skills in this interactive class.

IA member $100/Non-member $135

For more info: IA online class descriptions