Will Foley says Hawke's Bay Regional Council's goal is that the region has long-term, climate-secure, resilient supplies of freshwater for all. Photo /NZME
Despite the recent (and welcome) rain providing great spring conditions, our region is still experiencing below-average rainfall.
We continue to face the longer-term realities of managing the impacts of climate change on our freshwater supplies.
The Tukituki River has been identified as one of the most vulnerable to climate change in New Zealand, with Niwa reporting that the East Coast can expect increasingly frequent and severe droughts – particularly in Central Hawke's Bay.
Recent regulatory reforms have further reinforced that our freshwater ecosystems are a top priority as we face this drier, more-volatile climate.
So, after ensuring our water bodies have the freshwater they need, we have the increasingly difficult challenge of allocating and managing what freshwater is available to our communities.
Put simply, without some form of intervention, the environment has reached the limits of how much water it can supply to our communities.
But our thirst for water will continue to grow – for a climbing population, for our businesses, and for exciting opportunities within our primary sector that can support our transition to a lower-emission economy.
Addressing our long-term freshwater security is going to require a relentless focus on both the demand and the supply of water.
As those who know me will vouch for, I'm passionately in support of water storage in Central Hawke's Bay - to combat climate change, to ensure our growing communities have access to clean water and to continue our proud legacy as an innovative and dynamic food-producing region in the New Zealand economy.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council has previously committed resources to successfully obtaining resource consent for an above-ground water storage solution in Central Hawke's Bay.
However, the Supreme Court decision in July 2017 meant this option could no longer be progressed by the council. Recently, water storage in Central Hawke's Bay is being looked at by another group.
The demise of Wairarapa's water storage project in recent months, citing the challenges of consenting the project in the current planning and regulatory environment, is further evidence of how difficult it is to get a water storage project of any scale across the line.
Since the Opuha Dam in South Canterbury was commissioned in 1998, the only other major community-scale dam to be built is the 13 million cubic metre Waimea Dam now under construction in the Tasman district.
While above-ground storage can never be fully off the table, it's not the only form of water storage. That's why the council has committed over the next three years to exploring alternative water storage solutions in the form of a managed aquifer recharge (MAR) trial near the Waipawa River.
We want to mimic nature and give it a hand at the same time.
Rather than storing water above ground, MAR will use the gravels of the Ruataniwha Plains as a sponge to store winter water, increasing water levels for nearby streams and wetlands and holding water for use in the summer months.
The project proposes to take water from gravel under the Waipawa River and pipe it across farmland to a point where it will be naturally filtered through a constructed wetland. It will then either soak into the shallow aquifer via gravel infiltration galleries, or "leaky ponds", or be pumped into the deeper aquifer.
We expect to see nearby stream levels increasing and becoming more resilient through droughts, or even improved in the long term, so they can in turn support important aquatic ecosystems.
We also hope to see increased availability of water in the deeper aquifer - which is traditionally where most of Central Hawke's Bay's water is drawn from.
MAR sites are relatively small scale with localised impacts, but if the science and monitoring trial proves successful, this approach could contribute to not only holding the line for the environment, but provide a viable option to store more freshwater for the growing demand in Central Hawke's Bay.
MAR has been used successfully in more than 1000 projects around the world to supplement aquifer levels when water is plentiful.
The trial project is supported by central government's Kānoa – Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit (formerly the Provincial Growth Fund).
However, for the trial to be truly successful we need local support. Leading into a consenting phase, the council is engaging with mana whenua, landowners, neighbours and Central Hawke's Bay District Council to ensure the trial meets their expectations.
We're grateful to the farmers who've granted council access to carry out the trial on their land and we are engaging constructively with mana whenua on how cultural values can be monitored throughout the trial.
The Tukituki Plan (Plan Change 6) ensures the water returned to the aquifer meets the required quality requirements, and a comprehensive water quality monitoring plan will form a key part of the consent application for the trial project.
With a combination of Western science and mātauranga Māori, we'll evaluate how well MAR replenishes the landscape and protects the mauri (life force) of the ecosystem.
If successful, the managed aquifer recharge method could be replicated across the district as part of the programme to build the resilience of our rivers, streams and aquifers to climate change.
Every single one of us relies on freshwater for our very survival – so does our environment and economy.
Our goal is that Hawke's Bay has long-term, climate-secure, resilient supplies of freshwater for all.
• Will Foley is a Hawke's Bay regional councillor.