Tuesday, 18 September 2018 11:00

U-turn on Waimea Community Dam

Written by  Nigel Malthus
The proposed zone of benefit of the Waimea Community Dam as published in a 2017 Tasman District Council consultation document. SUPPLIED The proposed zone of benefit of the Waimea Community Dam as published in a 2017 Tasman District Council consultation document. SUPPLIED

Horticulture NZ is welcoming the Tasman District Council’s U-turn on the Waimea Community Dam project.

The $102 million project envisages damming the Waimea River in the Lee Valley, in the ranges east of the Waimea Plains. It aims to use the stored water for agricultural irrigation on the plains, and to protect urban water supplies and river flows in dry periods. 

The project is on again after the Tasman District Council voted to reverse an earlier ‘no’ decision on the basis of a revised funding model which mayor Richard Kempthorne said would lower the expected costs for ratepayers.

Richard Palmer, the acting chief executive of Horticulture NZ, says the Tasman district is a prime horticulture area -- the second-largest grower of apples and a big producer of kiwifruit, berries and vegetables.

“The key thing is that... for farming businesses to contribute to the economy and keep hiring people, they need certainty [about] water.”

Palmer acknowledges a personal interest in the scheme: his father John Palmer is the strategic advisor to the project. And he is a director of a packing business in the district, although the family’s orchard is outside the irrigation area.

Palmer says some people seemed to think farmers’ existing water rights should be curtailed to provide for increased river flows and urban water take. He says the dam will address all three fundamental issues: raising minimum flows in line with the national water policy statement, irrigation, and urban water use.

Palmer says it costs several hundred thousand dollars to set up a kiwifruit orchard. He believes people would not make that investment if they thought the vines would die in the second year due to a lack of water.

Horticulture is a key economic driver of the region. “Horticulture is an expensive investment. It delivers very high economic returns on a per hectare basis but that’s only possible with the necessary infrastructure, including certainty of access to water,” Palmer says.

He says people who argued that only “rich farmers would benefit” were forgetting that a minimum flow issue in the Waimea River still had to be addressed. 

“If you want to address that, you must have some sort of recharge.”

Palmer says it is not just irrigators who will benefit from the dam.

“A whole lot of industries needing water would lose it in dry periods. It’s not just irrigators, yet it’s irrigators – together with their funders – who are stumping up [most] of the money.”

The dam project was revived when three councillors who had voted against it nine days earlier changed their votes after hearing the revised proposal behind closed doors.

The project also benefits from loan funding from Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd (CIIL).

When the Government said in April that it would end CIIL funding for large irrigation projects, several proposed schemes were put at risk; but Waimea was identified as one of three -- along with stage two of Central Plains and the Kurow Duntroon scheme -- for which existing funding commitments would be met.

More like this

Food security crucial

Hort NZ chair Barry O'Neil says food supply and security is fundamental to New Zealand's future.

How hort fared in 2023

For the country's horticultural sector, it's been a year that started off with the worst weather imaginable. It also had plenty of drama and intrigue and ended up with us getting a new tri-party government that has collectively promised to fix everything! Peter Burke reports.

Optimism grows

HorticultureNZ chair Barry O'Neil believes the mood in the sector is more positive than it's been all year.

Featured

Dairy sheep and goat turmoil

Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.

Hurry up and slow down!

OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.

Editorial: Passage to India

OPINION: Even before the National-led coalition came into power, India was very much at the fore of its trade agenda.

National

Knowing bugs means fewer drugs

A mastitis management company claims to deliver the fastest and most accurate mastitis testing available at scale for New Zealand…

Machinery & Products

100 years of Farmall Tractors

Returning after an enforced break, the Wheat and Wheels Rally will take place on the Lauriston -Barhill Road, North-East of…

JD unveils its latest beast

John Deere has unveiled its most powerful tractor ever, with the launch of the all new 9RX Series Tractor line-up…

Biggest Quadtrac coming to NZ!

In the biggest announcement that Case IH Australia/New Zealand has made around its tractor range, its biggest tractor is about…

A different shade of blue for Norwood

Norwood and ARGO Tractors, the Italian manufacturer of Landini and McCormick tractors, have announced an agreement that gives Norwood exclusive…

Kubota tests diesel engines

Kubota last month used the UK LAMMA Show to test the water with its new 200hp, four-cylinder 09-series diesel engines.

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Why?

OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents…

Fat to cut

OPINION: Your canine crusader understands that MPI were recently in front of the Parliamentary Primary Sector Select Committee for an…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter