Hawke’s Bay Regional Council wants Ngāruroro dam clarification

Ngāruroro River, towards the cableway at Whanawhana. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is seeking clarification of the definition of "damming" in the draft of a Water Conservation Order that could cover the area. Photo / Warren Buckland

A Hawke’s Bay Regional Council appeal against an Environment Court recommendation to extend a Water Conservation Order on the Ngāruroro River suggests it has concerns the order could interfere with a future dam.

Private stakeholders successfully appealed a 2019 Water Conservation Order (WCO) on the upper Ngāruroro in November 2022, to extend the Environment Court recommendation for a WCO to both the upper and lower reaches of the Ngāruroro.

The Environment Court decision in November 2022 meant that no resource consent or rule in a regional plan could authorise the damming of both the upper Ngāruroro waters and the mainstem of the lower Ngāruroro River.

Katrina Brunton, HBRC policy and regulation group manager, said HBRC had appealed the decision.

“The Regional Council’s appeal is focused on clarification of the definition of ‘damming’ in the Water Conservation Order to help with understanding how the order is to be applied,” Brunton said.

Brunton said a hearing date had not been set yet.

“Since the Regional Council lodged the appeal, the Regional Council has been working with parties for clearer drafting of the order as directed by the Environment Court.”

A draft of the water conservation order given by the Environment Court offers the current definition of “damming” in the decision:

“Damming means the artificial impounding of all or part of the natural flow of any water, including but not limited to circumstances involving: 1. an associated temporary or permanent structure, or: 2. any intake or diversion structure, structure in the river bed, or modification of the river bed, that impedes the passage of fish or navigation by personal watercraft.”

Then Hawke's Bay Regional Council chief executive James Palmer said in 2022 the Environment Court decision would not prevent investigations into water storage on a tributary of the Ngāruroro downstream of where the WCO’s restrictions lie. Photo / Warren Buckland

HBRC had been investigating sites for a small to medium-sized publicly owned dam of up to 20 million cubic metres on a tributary in the mid-reaches of Ngāruroro, near the Whanawhana cableway, late last year.

The Whanawhana cableway is the point where the upper Ngāruroro waters end and the lower Ngāruroro begins.

In a statement made in November 2022, then HBRC chief executive James Palmer said the Environment Court decision would not prevent investigations into water storage on a tributary of the Ngāruroro downstream of where the WCO’s restrictions lie.

The HBRC Strategic Projects report to July 30, 2023 notes progress on investigations into a dam site for Heretaunga Water Storage.

“Damwatch Engineering, independent technical peer reviewers, are reviewing the Tonkin & Taylor Stage 2 technical study for Option 3 Dam site,” the report said.

Landowners had been briefed and HBRC had submitted a loan draw-down request for $200,000 of Kānoa funding, according to the report.

HBRC has been approached for comment on the location of the proposed dam site and if the WCO could affect it.

Forest and Bird freshwater advocate Tom Kay said he understood the HBRC appeal was very “narrow”, and not made with the intent to block the WCO, but it was “frustrating”.

He said Forest and Bird were hopeful for a quick resolution to allow the WCO to go ahead.

“It is frustrating to be caught up on such a narrow point, but it is going to be something the legal teams will have to deal with,” Kay said.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz