The site of the proposed dam is in the headwaters of the Makaroro River.
A petition signed by more than 800 people has been presented to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council asking it to confirm it will not allocate any further ratepayer funding to a plan to build a controversial Central Hawke’s Bay dam.
But backers of the dam say those behind the petition are jumping the gun.
Former Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) councillor Paul Bailey, an opponent of both the ill-fated Ruataniwha Dam and the current plan for a new water storage project in its shadow, presented the petition on behalf of Wise Water Use Hawke’s Bay (WWU) at the council’s Napier offices on Wednesday.
Bailey said a clear message needed to be sent to the public, staff, and promoters of the Tukituki Water Security Project (TWSP) that HBRC had no interest in spending money on it.
The 828-strong petition comes after the Government announced an $18 million loan to the project from the Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund on April 7.
The site of the proposed dam is in the headwaters of the Makaroro River on the same footprint as the Ruataniwha Dam concept, which was first mooted about 13 years ago.
Various attempts to get the dam off the ground have been mired in controversy since it was first supported with $20m of HBRC funding.
Bailey said WWU and the signatories on the petition opposed what he claimed was the Tukituki Water Security Project promoters’ plan to use public money to pay for “so-called environmental flows”.
“We ask council to confirm publicly they will not agree to pay for this water, nor commit any more ratepayer money or resources to this project.”
He said that although TWSP had not yet approached the council for funding, WWU believed the only logical source for a public subsidy would be either the central Government or the HBRC.
“To make the Ruataniwha Dam financially viable, the dam promoters claim a water price of between 30c and 40c per m3 would be required,” Bailey said.
“However – and to quote the Tukituki Water Security Project Information Flyer December 2024 – ‘this water price assumes that the environmental flows (20 Mm3) are financed via the public sector’.”
He claimed that, by his calculations, if funding of “environmental flows” was green-lighted by the council, it could increase HBRC rates by 10%.
Tukituki Water Security Project chairman Mike Petersen said WWU was jumping the gun.
“We have made no requests to HBRC and are still assessing if the dam would be commercially viable,” Petersen said.
“There are a host of reasons why it may not be, and the price of water is one of the factors.”
He said he wasn’t sure why WWU discounted water storage as part of the solution to a regionwide water shortage.
“Water storage has to be part of the future. Other water shortage regions are well ahead of Hawke’s Bay”.
He said it was easy to sign a petition calling for the council not to spend money.
“No one wants any council to spend money at the moment.
“We have been inundated with support since the grant was announced. People understand that if Gisborne and Wairarapa have water storage and Hawke’s Bay doesn’t, we will see an exodus of local businesses.”
But Bailey said WWU’s water storage solution was obvious.
“When approximately half the water consented on the river plains is used by a handful of dairy units, it’s high time that some of the allocation is clawed back and put to more wise use,” Bailey said.
HBRC chair Sophie Siers thanked Bailey for his presentation, saying water was one of the council’s top priorities.
“We are well aware of the huge impact of water scarcity, of allocation issues and of storage issues,” Siers said.
She said any change would need to be considered under a change to the revenue and finance policy, and that would require public consultation.
“I want to give you confidence that what you are suggesting could not happen without public awareness.”
Bailey said after the presentation that there was nothing to stop the regional council from committing not to pay for environmental flows this term.
“They can do that.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.