The proposed site of the Ruataniwha Dam that never went ahead. Photo: SUPPLIED
A stalled, controversial plan to flood 22 hectares of conservation land in Hawke's Bay is set to be revived under the government's Fast-track Approvals Bill.
The Tukituki Water Security Project, formerly known as the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme, would see the Makaroro River dammed.
Proponents of the plan say it is needed to ensure there is enough water for the region and to protect its rivers, but opponents say it will be an environmental disaster.
Bill could override 2017 Supreme Court decision
The project, which was initially in the hands of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, required the Department of Conservation to downgrade the protected nature of some of its stewardship land to free up the dam site. However, this was deemed unlawful by a 2017 Supreme Court decision. The Fast-track Approvals Bill could now override that decision.
In 2018, the council sold off its assets and intellectual property for the project to private entity Water Holdings. That company is now working with a steering group to get the plans off the ground.
Group working on new business case for rebranded project
Tukituki Water Security Project chair Mike Petersen said a lot of work had been done to revamp the plans.
"The region is drying considerably ... the supply of water in Hawke's Bay is already not meeting demand and that's only going to get worse," he said.
"This is a completely different project.
"We're going downstream and making our way back up the catchment."
Petersen said the Supreme Court decision was not based on the merits of the land, but rather on whether proper processes had been followed.
The group would spend the next 18 months working on a new business case, including investment options and costings.
"We're not asking for ratepayers or councils to invest in the project ... we're confident that we'll get sufficient private investors."
However, he acknowledged there would need to be a discussion about funding for environmental flows (which describe the quantity, timing, and quality of water needed to sustain ecosystems) once the capital costs had been dealt with.
Forest & Bird has major concerns
But environmental organisation Forest & Bird is decrying the project's rebranding as "spin" and "greenwashing".
Freshwater advocate Tom Kay said numerous native species living in Ruahine Forest Park - including fernbirds (mātātā), long-tailed bats (pekapeka) and New Zealand falcon (kārearea) - would have their homes wiped out.
"Whitebait, tuna, eels, they have to be able to move up and down that river to complete their life cycles," he said.
"Even if they can get upstream [if the dam were to go ahead], they'd be killed on the way back."
Evidence showed dams increased water pollution and led to increased water usage, Kay said, and one at this site would also stop gravel from travelling down to the coastline, where erosion was already a problem.
"Dams are the worst things we can do to rivers ... they're not this panacea that we have to use."
Farming interests put above environmental concerns - water advocacy group
A local water advocacy group said the project's revival put farming interests above environmental concerns.
Wise Water Use spokesperson Dr Trevor Le Lievre said it had been "one of the worst-kept local secrets" that the project was on the government's list. He feared it would lead to further overfarming in an area that was unsuitable.
"The only way that farmers are going to be able to pay for this build is intensification," he said, pointing out that many local nitrate readings were already above safe levels.
Le Lievre said the environmental flows proposed by the project group had been shown not to work in other situations, and would come at a huge cost to ratepayers.
Both he and Kay wanted a rethink on how the land was used, suggesting less farming, and more forests and wetlands, could be more sustainable in the semi-dry region.
"We don't actually have a water shortage in Central Hawke's Bay ... what we have is a land use problem," Le Lievre said.
Water solves 'a lot of problems'
However, a long-time advocate of the dam says it would be for the good of the community.
Gavin Streeter led a rally to save the water storage project a decade ago, in 2014. He was also among those to buy the blueprints from the council. Although he is no longer involved in the company, he still thought the dam was a good idea.
"Water solves a hell of a lot of problems."
Streeter said that was increasingly apparent as more rivers dried up because of climate change.
He hoped the project's inclusion on the fast-track list would give it a chance to be talked about "in a different manner", saying the world had moved on from focusing solely on irrigation.
"We were all looked at as water barons ... [but] it's got to be done in a way that it suits the environment," he said.
"The last thing I want to see is river health decline.
"The alternative is what happens if the river runs dry and all the fish die? That would be a tragedy."
The Fast-track Approvals Bill is expected to go before Parliament for its second reading next month, and will be passed into law by the end of the year.
