Tasman mayor accused of ‘scaremongering’ over dam
Some Tasman district councillors have accused mayor Richard Kempthorne of scaremongering over potential water restrictions without the proposed Waimea dam.
Kempthorne said there could be ‘‘Third World’’ provision of water for some people in a severe drought after November 1 unless there was augmentation. ‘‘I think the community doesn’t realise that’s what we have ahead of us without the dam.’’
He said he expected to be accused of scaremongering, but the rules for tougher rationing in dry spells were in place under no-dam provisions in the Tasman Resource Management Plan. The rationing would affect rural and urban water users in the Richmond, Hope, Mapua, Brightwater and Redwood Valley areas.
If a decision is made not to proceed with the proposed dam in the Lee Valley, the tougher rationing could come into force from November 1. The possibility has also been raised of tankers supplying water to some residents in a severe drought.
Cr Anne Turley said talk of water tankers and new water restrictions was ‘‘not just scaremongering, it is actually a threat and a political ploy’’.
‘‘If you’ve got water for tankers then you’ve got water for pipes,’’ she said. ‘‘We are not short of water.’’
Some other councillors took up the issue on Thursday at an environment and planning committee meeting.
Cr Dana Wensley asked if there could be a delay to the planned removal of deferred residential zone status for a development site off Lower Queen St, Richmond.
‘‘Wouldn’t it seem a little bit negligent to go out one week saying to our existing users, ‘There might be water tanks rolling through the area and Third World conditions imposed’, and then look at lifting that deferment and having the extra water demands?’’ she said.
However, senior policy adviser Maxine Day said the council was ‘‘obliged to uplift that zoning’’, adding that it was anticipated the area would be serviced with water.
‘‘What else can we do?’’ Wensley asked. ‘‘If we we believe the scaremongering, we’re quite frankly negligent doing this, because we actually have a serious urban water issue. Can we say that these new houses have to have some rain collection [or] something? Are we doing anything at all?’’
Activity planning manager Dwayne Fletcher said he believed it was too late to require homes planned for the Lower Queen St area to have rainwater tanks. ‘‘The horse has bolted.’’
In response to a question, Fletcher confirmed that the possibility of using water tankers had been ‘‘floated’’ to help meet the toughest level of rationing.
If the dam did not proceed, there was a ‘‘whole bunch of things’’ the council would investigate, he said.
‘‘You’d look at the council’s nonrevenue water situation more seriously, you might look at tanks, you’d definitely have to look at alternative augmentation solutions,’’ Fletcher said.
‘‘You’d want to put out a pretty good educational campaign, and you might want to consider subsidies for low water use devices, and only once you consider that whole suite of things, you decide what your preferred set of options are.’’
Cr Dean McNamara responded: ‘‘Surely it would be irresponsible of council to be making statements that residents will be depending on water trucks for their water, given that you’ve already said that that’s a process that we’ll have to go through and how we mitigate that. Why would you send a message like that is my question.’’
Outside the meeting, McNamara said the council had other options it would have to investigate, such as a proposed plan change to delay the implementation of the ‘‘no dam’’ provisions.
Turley outlined some other options, including fixing leaks in the system, talking with Nelson City Council and making water supply a regional issue, ‘‘low-cost’’ weirs along the Lee River, ponds and reservoirs, along with improved rainwater harvesting and reticulation systems.
‘‘It might be in Tasman District Council’s best interests to appoint an independent professionally qualified panel to consider the options rather than continue to refer to those who are tainted with a dam culture,’’ Turley said.
‘‘We are not short of water.’’
Cr Anne Turley