A government funding loan of $18 million for a controversial dam in Central Hawke's Bay has its opponents vowing to halt the project yet again.
By Alexa Cook for RNZ
The Tukituiki Water Security Project, formerly known as the Ruataniwha Dam, was scuppered in 2017 by the Supreme Court, when it deemed a land swap unlawful.
But under the Government's fast track legislation it could go ahead, which would make it the largest dam built since the Clyde was constructed over 30 years ago.
The Associate Minister for Regional Development, Mark Patterson, visited a Central Hawke's Bay orchard on Tuesday to announce new funding for the project.
"Giving you the fiscal firepower, giving you the tools with the fast-track legislation to blow through the barriers we've seen in the past with this project.
"Hawke's Bay — the ball is now in your court," he told the crowd of local leaders, farmers and growers.
Tukituki Water Security Project chair Mike Petersen is thrilled. He said by 2040 the region could be 25 million cubic metres short of water.
"This is a region that is running out of water and we shouldn't sugarcoat it. It's desperately needed — we know we have to our water efficiency measures.. recycling.. and all the other tools at our disposal to make sure we do have wise water use.
"But we also need to make sure we capture some of that water that is flowing out to sea in peak flow periods and utilise it smartly," he said.
That's what Craigmore Sustainables is planning to do; it's invested in the dam's feasibility study.
Viticulture business manager Emma Taylor told RNZ its large apple and grape growing operation needs water security because its water consent expires in nine years with no certainty of it being renewed.
"So this development here cost $19 million to put in place. The land was purchased in 1999 and the development finished last year. That's a lot of investment and with no security past 2035 that's actually quite a lot of risk," she said.
However, not everyone is welcoming the dam funding. Opponents Wise Water Use have been campaigning against it for years.
Spokesperson Trevor Le Lievre is gobsmacked.
"We down in Central Hawke's Bay haven't even got bridges repaired from Cyclone Gabrielle and yet this government are prepared to pour another $18 million into this zombie project — they've really misread the room on this," said Le Lievre.
But the minister disagrees, and isn't expecting any criticism over the spending.
"Hawke's Bay is prone to dry... there's huge potential here with 22,000 hectares potentially being brought into much higher value land uses.
"This is a wise investment. This is not spending, this is investment," said Patterson.
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