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Media information 8 April 2013

Possible water storage
sites identified
A preliminary study of water storage options in Wairarapa has identified around a dozen potential sites for further investigation.

The study is part of the Wairarapa Water Use Project’s investigation of a multi-purpose regional water scheme. The scheme would collect and store water then distribute it for a variety of community and agricultural uses during the dry season in an environmentally sustainable way. It has the potential to irrigate up to 60,000 hectares of the Wairarapa valley.

A 12-month investigation by the project’s consulting engineers, Tonkin and Taylor, has so far narrowed the possible storage sites from a large number down to nine, mostly on privately-owned land. The sites, outlined in a report released today, are in the south Martinborough, White Rock Road, Mangatarere, Black Creek, Kiriwhakapapa, Te Mara, Te Ore Ore, Dorsets Road and Mauriceville West areas.

The report’s recommendation for further investigation of all nine sites plus several more possible options in the upper Tauweru catchment area was endorsed by the project’s Leadership Group late last month after feedback from landowners and a community advisory group. The concept of including some smaller storage sites on the plains to complement the larger storages in the foothills will also be explored.

Wairarapa Water Use Project Leadership Group chair Fran Wilde said analysis of the storage sites was at a very an early stage in the project’s overall development. “This is just one part of a wide-ranging study that is taking into account many other factors including the identifying and managing the effects of more intensive land use as a result of irrigation, water availability, demand for water, and broad finance and ownership options.”

“We do not expect all of these sites to be suitable, for a range of social, technical, economic, cultural or environmental reasons. The next step is to gather more in-depth information which will provide greater confidence as to which sites are most suitable for a more detailed pre-feasibility study.”
This next phase is expected to be complete by the middle of this year. The pre-feasibility study will take about a year depending on the number of sites being considered, and will determine which sites are worth taking forward to a full feasibility study.

Work on the costing of potential schemes is extremely preliminary due to the large number of assumptions and uncertainties at this early stage of the project.

Fran Wilde said a combination of water storage sites and distribution networks may be the best solution for providing an increased and reliable water supply for Wairarapa. A staged approach to this is likely to be needed.

Project investigations are being jointly funded by the Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Irrigation Acceleration Fund (IAF) which is administered by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

IAF manager, Kevin Steel, expressed full confidence in the water project’s work programme and said the speed of progress was reflected in the thoroughness of the investigations. “The IAF is committed to a collaborative partnership, not only as a funding partner, but also by providing lessons learnt from other projects and ensuring that good practice is observed,” Kevin Steel said.

All project reports and further information are available at www.wairarapawater.org.nz .

Background information attached


Background information – 8 April 2013
The need for water
• Wairarapa’s rural and urban economy is constrained by limited water availability and reliability.
• Multiple use of scheme water could include for irrigation, recreation, enhancing summer stream flows, frost fighting, stock water, town supply (industrial and domestic), wetlands augmentation, and hydro electricity generation.
• The project is taking a ‘whole of valley’ approach. 60,000 hectares of the Wairarapa valley are theoretically irrigable – this would require 250-300 million cubic metres of water per year. It equates to 5-13% of the average volume flowing from the valley in a 1:10 dry year: i.e. approximately 2500 million cubic metres.
• Enough water is available – mainly using higher winter flows off the Tararua ranges.
• Indicative demand from farmers for irrigation water has been positive. To date, 201 farmers have been interviewed, representing 269 properties covering more than 51,000 hectares. They require an indicative total volume of 54 million cubic metres of water per year.
• Currently approximately 10,000 hectares of the Wairarapa valley are irrigated.
Economic benefits
A study conducted prior to the 2012/early 2013 investigations (based a theoretical scheme) showed:
Construction Stage Benefits (cumulative over 9 years)
Area Net Increase in GDP Cumulative FTE Increase
Wairarapa Community $149M 2,580
Wellington Region (excl Wairarapa) $135M 2,230

Irrigation Benefits (excluding construction) cumulative over 20 years
Perspective Net GDP Increase Cumulative FTE Increase
Wairarapa Community $407M 14,691
Wellington Region (excl Wairarapa) $330M 14,805
Scheme investigations
• One or more storage reservoirs may be developed to provide water to different parts of the valley. No decisions have yet been made. The eventual number and location of these will depend on a range of factors including:
Suitability of dam sites (such as engineering and geotechnical aspects)
Water availability
Demand for water
Environmental, social and cultural effects
Availability of land
Overall financial viability of each scheme
• Significant investigations are needed to assess the viability of any scheme - there is a great deal more work to be done. If constructed schemes are likely to be staged.
• There will be no on-river storage on the main stems of the Ruamahanga, Tauherenikau, Waiohine or Waingawa rivers.
• Water storage will be kept out of the Tararua Forest Park, except possibly the tail end of a lake.
• Storage site field investigations to date have been limited to site walk-overs for visual inspections of surface geology and topography.
• Projects of this complex type typically take about 10 years from concept to operation.
• The project investigation budget is $1.25 million per year for this year and the next two years.
• Costs are shared equally by the Ministry of Primary Industry’s Irrigation Acceleration Fund (IAF) and the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Community engagement
• Members of the project team have made personal contact with approximately 80 owners of land that could potentially be inundated in the possible storage sites identified. Landowners have received copies of the report and have provided some feedback.
• The Wairarapa Water Use Project is overseen by a leadership group representing local authorities, iwi, farming, environmental, recreational, business and central government.
• A Stakeholder Advisory Group made up of 19 community organisations is providing input into and feedback on project investigations.

Further information and all project reports are available at www.wairarapawater.org.nz

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1304/MAP_WWUP_possible_storage__irrigable_areas_April_2013.pdf

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1304/Task_6_Summary_Report_V04.pdf

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