Row ignites over irrigation-costs report

The Ministry for Primary Industries has defended funding of a Wairarapa irrigation project, which has been slammed in a report as ‘‘highly misleading’’.

Water Wairarapa - which, alongside MPI, disagrees with the report - is proposing developing three dams over two sites with a view to be able to irrigate 30,000 hectares in the drought-prone region.

A Fish & Game-commissioned report, released last week, claimed the calculations used to push for the dams were highly misleading and based on bad information including an inflated dairy payout.

Water Wairarapa project director Michael Bassett-foss argued the Fish & Game report was done by a ‘‘longtime critic of irrigation schemes’’, that it relied on old information, and a separate study showed the irrigation scheme was feasible.

‘‘It is disappointing that neither Peter Fraser nor Wellington Fish & Game bothered to come to us to get their facts straight,’’ Bassettfoss said.

When Fairfax NZ asked him for some facts - which the Fish & Game report said were lacking Bassett-foss was unable to supply them, such as the projected annual cost of the project’s infrastructure and operations.

He agreed previous work had been based on older, higher dairy prices but said the dairy contribution had been recalculated with up-to-date projections.

The Fish & Game report said the project, which had already received about $7 million in public funding, had multiple failings.

It said it was premised on a 50 per cent increase in dairying - the ‘‘cornerstone’’ water buyer - in Wairarapa, and based on dairy prices prior to the dairy slump.

There was a ‘‘cascade failure’’ of all economic projections and promised jobs that did not exist, the report said.

Furthermore, it failed to include the price of water or annual infrastructure and supply operating costs, misleading the region’s three councils.

It also criticised a ‘‘lack of oversight and rigour’’ by the Irrigation Acceleration Fund (IAF) which put funding into the projects, as well as the Ministry for Primary Industries, which oversaw the fund.

Economist Peter Fraser, who wrote the report, said the projected dairying increase was ‘‘just not believable in 2016’’ given the low dairy prices.

‘‘The result is a highly misleading portrayal of the scheme’s economic feasibility.’’

Water Wairarapa pointed to a report by farm advisors Bakerag which said any dairy expansion was largely limited to current dairy farmers wanting to expand their existing operations a little.

‘‘The report dispels the myth that the scheme will cause large scale dairy conversion, but instead a variety of land uses will ensue. Farm case study work shows viable opportunities for land uses such as horticulture, sheep dairy and arable crops,’’ the statement from Wellington Water said.

‘‘Water Wairarapa’s purpose is to secure a sustainable future for the region’s people, land and water by storing, managing and using water in ways that boost regional prosperity, care for the environment and support community use.’’

It said the three Wairarapa councils were being kept updated on the scheme, which would improve existing irrigation, and improve frost fighting and stock drinking water, as well as boosting Ruamahanga River’s ability to boost low summer river and stream flows.

It said its current calculations were for just a slight initial increase in dairying but this would drop in the future based on ‘‘a number of influences including higher value land uses’’.

Ben Dalton, of MPI, backed Water Wairarapa’s claim that Fraser’s analysis was flawed and based on old information.

He also backed most of Wellington Water’s claims and said dairy prices were expected to improve.

MPI had a ‘‘robust process’’ in place for considering funding applications, he said, but Fish & Game manager Phil Teal said ratepayers were being misled.