b'on their willingness to undertake the project, relationship with the companies and having a sizeable land base using irrigation.Weve always worked with our One of the growers was Chad Berry who owns Under theneighbours, but we got down further Hill Farms near Cypress River, Man. At first Berry didnt fullythan that, got down to working with understand the idea of the project but was interested enough and thought there was things he could learn from it.neighbours, local towns, schools, The first phase of the project included stakeholder engagementdistricts, water management zones. with growers, completed as part of the AWS standard. The AWS standard uses a comprehensive stakeholder engagement processCHAD BERRYsimilar to the EcoMetrics methodology stakeholder engagement process, a report on the project explained. As part of it, growers had to identify shared water challenges and opportunities within their watersheds. ALUS Canada ran the stakeholder engagement process with growers using the AWS standard criteria. As part of the data gathering stage, ALUS Canada sent a supplemental questionnaire to the producers asking for additional input on expected benefits, including asking growers to rank expected benefits of water stewardship practices in order of perceived priority, the report said.Through this evaluation, growers were able to identify all the different levels of partners they work with when it comes to water for usage from neighbours to watershed districts to municipalities. You dont think of partners all the timehow youre affecting them and how they affect you, Berry explains in a phone interview.Brandy Wilson, globalChad Berry, owner of Under the Weve always worked with our neighbours, but we got down furthersustainability director forHill FarmsSimplot18SPUDSMART.COMFall 2023'