Regional council call 'end of the road' for Ruataniwha Dam project

After years of setbacks and opposition, HBRC washes hands of Ruataniwha Dam - proposed to be built on this CHB site. PHOTO/FILE

After five years, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council has signalled its intent to "move on" from the controversial Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme.

The $330 million irrigation project would have been the largest in the country and was intended to provide a secure water supply, particularly for those in drought-stricken Central Hawke's Bay.

However it faced years of opposition, with questions raised about its environmental impact and its financial viability - with $80m in ratepayer funding pledged to it.

The fatal blow was July's Supreme Court decision which meant a land swap needed for the $330m project could not go ahead.

In light of this, during a council meeting yesterday CE James Palmer said there were "significant impediments" to the scheme going forward.

So, the council agreed to advice to write off $14m, which HBRIC used to develop the scheme. Council also agreed to not invest any more capital in the scheme.

Mr Palmer told councillors this move "signals the end of the road, in terms of the council's financial support for the scheme going forward".

Central Hawke's Bay councillor Debbie Hewitt said this was a "sad day", noting without the RWSS there would be many losses - from its promised environmental benefits, to a loss of production in Hawke's Bay's primary and horticulture sectors.

"We've lost employment opportunities that the region is desperately screaming out for. We've lost the opportunity to have containers going through the port in increasing volumes."

She was optimistic the project would still go ahead in some form, "and it's going to be probably far better off without council being a cornerstone investor, in terms of getting on and the project being a success".

The scheme could proceed if a private investor aligned with HBRIC - with council yesterday authorising the company to sell any assets of intellectual property developed to date in connection with the scheme.

Yesterday's decision was not a surprise - as Ms Hewitt noted, the tide had been turning against the scheme for some time - with the majority of those now around the council table seemingly elected with an anti-dam mandate.

After the meeting one of them, council chairman Rex Graham, said this was a "hollow victory".

"I thought it was a really poor use of ratepayers' money," he said. "[But] I very much sympathise with the farmers."

For farmers, the council's "gut-wrenching" move has raised questions about water security.

"In one sense it's a positive to have a definite decision so farmers know where they stand," Federated Farmers' Hawke's Bay Provincial President Will Foley said. "I'd like to think it's over in terms of the council's running of it, but hopefully not over for the dam itself."

In the immediate future farmers would be looking for other water supply options. They were also facing Plan Change Six - the conditions of which are required from next year - and expected to be more difficult without the RWSS.

Mr Graham said council would need to re-examine, or revisit the plan. He was not sure what support the council could offer those required to meet Plan Change Six requirements.

Greenpeace said yesterday's move was a "real victory for our rivers".

Agriculture campaigner Genevieve Toop said if there was any chance the dam could be revived in future, "we would be right back in there trying to stop it".

"There is no way that that dam can ever be good for the environment, it will always mean more dairying and that will always mean more polluted rivers, and for that reason we will always be opposed to it".

The remaining $66m earmarked for the project would no longer be "ring-fenced" for this.

-Hawke's Bay Today