Two more trustees for Te Tai Tokerau Water

Ken Rintoul. Photo / Supplied

Dargaville accountant Kathryn de Bruin and Ōkaihau civil contractor and businessman Ken Rintoul have been appointed to join former Cabinet ministers Dover Samuels and Murray McCully on the newly established Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust, which is charged with delivering one of the largest infrastructure projects seen in the province in decades.

Up to four reservoirs are to be constructed in the Mid North, and two or three on the Kaipara's northern Pouto Peninsula, which will collectively have the capacity to store up to 20 million cubic metres of water, enough to fill 8000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

de Bruin, who also owns a horticultural operation in partnership with her husband, and is a director at Horticulture NZ, said the schemes would be transformational for both areas.

"I am a vocal advocate for rural-based businesses, and these storage schemes will help strengthen the potential and growth of our rural communities," she said.

"We have some of the best horticultural soils in the country, but without a reliable supply of water it's hard to realise that potential. By creating the ability to store water instead of simply letting it run away we can have it available year round, which will allow land owners to plan potential land use change with confidence."

Between them the schemes would allow for approximately 7000ha of new irrigable land, an increase of approximately 50 per cent in the area currently in horticultural production in Northland.

The Matawii reservoir, near Kaikohe, will be the first, with construction scheduled to begin before the end of the year, providing up to 70 jobs, with the others to follow early next year.

The Matawii reservoir is one of 17 projects listed under the newly created Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-Track Consenting) Act, designed to fast-track eligible projects that were already planned and ready to go, and could boost employment and economic recovery.

Rintoul said the schemes were not just about agricultural use, but would also be available to bolster municipal water supplies in Dargaville and Kaikohe. The trust hoped the first phase of the scheme could be operational in the Mid North by late next year.

"While everyone will probably agree we've had more than enough rain lately, it's perhaps easy to forget that just a matter of months ago we were in the grips of yet another serious drought in the North," he said.

"We nearly ran out of water in Kaikohe, so this water storage scheme is an opportunity we need to grab hold of and make happen. It has transformative potential for the province."

The trust's role includes addressing disparities in Māori access to water for land development. The scheme is expected to lift employment in the Mid North by 12 per cent, and in the Kaipara by five per cent.