Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is in the process of reviewing and updating its policy on dangerous dams, earthquake-prone dams and flood-prone dams. The Council seeks public submissions as part of the consultation period, open from 28 March to 28 April 2024.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council GM Policy and Regulation Katrina Brunton says, “The Council has a responsibility to administer and monitor dam safety regulations. Our Dam Safety Policy needs to be up to date and set out what we will do if we are notified of a dangerous, earthquake-prone or flood-prone dam in Hawke’s Bay.”

The new dam safety regulations will apply to a dam that has a height of 4 or more meters and stores 20,000 or more cubic meters volume of water or other fluid. Small dams are excluded from the regulations. This includes irrigation races, stock drinking ponds and weirs.

Submissions will be open to the public and feedback is welcomed. Dam owners will be communicated with directly by letter or email and invited to make submissions on the proposed policy.

More information and submission forms can be found at www.hbrc.govt.nz, search #damreview. You can decide at the time you lodge a submission whether you wish to speak to your submission at a hearing.

If people are unsure if they have one of these dams or if the policy applies to them, they can enquire via email to damsafety@hbrc.govt.nz.

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