Damplan submitters have their say

The proposed Waimea dam is not a sustainable model for commercial water users, says submitter Annette Walker.

A retired entomologist, Walker, of Mapua, was one of the first people to speak at the first of four planned Tasman District Council hearings over a controversial proposal to build a dam in the Lee Valley, near Nelson.

‘‘The TDC is not in the business of sustaining water users on the [Waimea] plains,’’ she said.

Sheep and cows were grazed until it was uneconomic ‘‘and I suspect vegetable growers will do the same’’.

Walker told the panel squeezing maximum growth by pouring water, insecticides and fertilisers onto increasingly impoverished alluvial soil was neither sustainable nor economic.

The council and Waimea Irrigators Ltd (WIL) are proposed joint-venture partners in the $82.5 million project, which is tipped to be funded by a mix of ratepayer, irrigator and Crown funding.

The hearings follow the council’s call for submissions on options for ownership and governance of the proposed dam.

It also sought feedback on funding the council’s expected share of the costs – $26.8m in capital and an estimated $715,000 a year in operating expenses – as well as the community’s views on a proposal it underwrite up to $29m for a likely Crown Irrigation Investment Ltd loan to the joint venture on behalf of WIL.

The overall proposal drew 1384 submissions by the closing date of November 26.

At the start of the hearing on Monday, the panel accepted 37 late submissions and is due to consider the acceptance of more on Friday. In total, the council received 128 late submissions.

The hearings panel is made up of the full council with mayor Richard Kempthorne as the chairman.

Some other submitters raised concern about the cost to ratepayers when rates were already high.

Mary Ellen O’Connor, of Pearl Creek Farm, said she was a long-time opponent of the dam. However, if it did go ahead, it should have ‘‘community representation and complete transparency’’.

Some members of WIL spoke in support of the dam as did some growers.

Wai-West Horticulture Ltd general manager Anton Boeyen said water was critical to the business.

As the dam debate had intensified, there appeared to be a divide but water supply security was a community issue, he said.

WIL director Dick Bennison, speaking in a personal capacity, said a reason for irrigators to default on the loan was ‘‘almost unforseeable’’.

Planner Jackie McNae said if the dam was not built, the status quo would not be maintained because the Tasman Resource Management Plan rules had changed, which meant restrictions and rationing would come into play much earlier.

WIL chairman Murray King said if the new rules under a no-dam scenario had been in place during the 2001 drought, irrigators would have had 65 days without water. The loss of productivity would have resulted in flow-on effects through the whole community, he said.

Horticulture NZ president Julian Raine said reliability of water was key to making investment decisions.

Some submitters said they did not believe the dam would be built on budget including Louis Franklin who said water storage tanks should be mandatory for new builds, which would also help ease flooding in times of heavy downpours.

River Terrace Rd resident John Kuipers said he did not think a dam was the best option. It came down ‘‘to what you do at home’’.

‘‘Don’t be a wally with water,’’ he said.