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Ruataniwha Dam consent conditions for farmers

Legal advice to Council confirms Ruataniwha Dam consent conditions could require farmers to reduce farming intensity


Legal advice sought by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council on the Ruataniwha Dam consent conditions has confirmed that farmers who sign up to take water from the dam could be required to reduce the intensity of their farming operation to meet the catchment’s strict nitrogen limit.

Forest & Bird has been involved in a protracted battle over consents for the dam in the Tukituki catchment in the Hawke’s Bay. The Board of Inquiry’s original decision on the resource consents was successfully appealed to the High Court by Forest & Bird in 2014.

The Board issued a revised decision earlier this year, which included conditions requiring that land irrigated by water from the dam is managed in a manner consistent with achieving the catchment’s nitrogen limit by 2030. Many parts of the catchment are already well over the nitrogen limit.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, which is promoting the dam through its wholly owned investment arm Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company (“HBRIC”), sought legal advice from law firm Simpson Grierson on the dam consent conditions. The Council asked whether nitrogen limits and targets can continue to be exceeded as long as land owners are taking a `best practice' approach to their land use”. The advice received confirms that this is not the case, and that “if "best practice" is not considered sufficient to reach [nitrogen] targets by 2030,scheme participants could be required to take further measures. In some cases it is possible that these measures might involve a reduction in the intensity of the activity.”

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“If farmers are already using all available best practice methods but nitrogen outputs are still too high to meet the nitrogen limit, this may well mean farmers have to reduce stocking rates” says Forest & Bird lawyer Sally Gepp.

“We are pleased to see the Council asking for independent legal advice on the consent conditions. Farmers considering signing up to this scheme, and Hawke’s Bay ratepayers who are being asked to help fund it, should be aware of the implications of these conditions”.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has committed to investing up to $80 million dollars in the Ruataniwha Dam if farmers sign up to take 40 million m3 of water.

The dam’s backers still require consent from the Department of Conservation to flood an area of conservation land in the Ruahine Forest Park, which Forest & Bird says cannot lawfully be given.

Ends


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