New dam safety rules ‘over the top’
DAIRY: One farmer vents his anger at more rules but MBIE says they will protect people, writes Tracie Barrett.
I’d probably have about 10 duck ponds and stock water dams that would be above that [classified dam levels]. — Andrew Paterson, Matakanui Station
New dam safety regulations that take effect in 2024 have been called “over the top” by a high-country farmer who says they are just more of the rules that farmers are being bombarded with.
Andrew Paterson, owner of Matakanui Station, north of Alexandra in Otago, said the levels that made a dam classifiable under the new regulations had been set too low and would entail a large expense for “small” dams that posed little threat.
On May 12, 2022, new regulations on dam safety were passed by the Government, which will come into effect on May 13, 2024.
This gives dam owners time to check whether their dam is big enough to be impacted.
A feature of the new regulations is that a recognised engineer will be required to determine potential impact classifications and to certify and audit dam safety assurance programmes.
To be a classifiable dam, a dam must be:
4 metres or more in height and storing 20,000 cubic metres or more of water or other fluid
1m or more in height and storing 40,000cu m or more of water or other fluid
Paterson said many people would have to go through a lot of expense to comply with the regulations, only to find out there had never been a safety issue.
“I’d probably have about 10 duck ponds and stock water dams that would be above that.”
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment manager building policy Amy Moorhead said New Zealand was one of the few OECD countries that lacked a consistent, national-level scheme to ensure ongoing maintenance and inspection of dams.
“This new approach will protect people, property and the environment from the potential impacts of dam failure, both in the immediate vicinity of dams and further downstream,” Moorhead said.
The Central Otago District Council owns two dams for drinking water supplies — the Sowburn, in Patearoa, and the Eweburn, in Ranfurly — but its communications team said neither would be classifiable.
McArthur Ridge Vineyard manager Murray Petrie said two dams on the property would be classifiable, but the new regulations would make no difference to the operation.
Contact Energy, which operates the Clyde, Roxburgh and Hawea Dams, said that, while the new regulations would not change the way it operated the dams, there would be increased dam safety requirements to comply with.
Bringing dams into compliance and maintaining acceptable levels of safety might come at a monetary cost for some dam owners, Moorhead said.
“Most small farm dams, such as stock water drinking ponds and weirs, will be excluded from the regulatory framework as they do not meet the minimum size or storage volume thresholds,” she said.
Paterson disagreed, and said farmers were being bombarded with regulations and did not have time to be familiar with them all. ■