Lee Valley Dam must be affordable

Lee Valley Dam must be affordable

Federated Farmers is urging the Government to support the Tasman District Council’s (TDC) Waimea Dam Project to prevent the critical shortage of water for urban and farming development.

“It’s not a matter of whether the dam goes ahead, it is how it goes ahead,” says Martin O’Connor, Federated Farmers Nelson provincial president.

“We are living in a catch 22, because the build is likely to cost irrigators $520 per hectare and increase rates by 11 cents per cubic metre a year, but our rural and urban communities cannot survive without it.

“The Nelson-Tasman region is drying up whilst its population is growing at an exceptional rate. The significance of this not lost on the community after the 2001 drought dried the rivers up for three weeks and salt water was detected near the TDC water take. Something that is not going away - the Ministry for the Environment says the number of droughts in the region could more than double by 2090.

“The district is extremely sensitive to changes in water flow. In drought water takes are stopped, when farmers need water the most, and the water insecurity is stunting urban and business growth.

“The social and economic benefits of the dam reach far beyond the Waimea community, but it needs to be affordable. Right now the cost of the dam is pushing us into a desperate situation, but with the councils and Government’s support we can make this work, by softening the financial blow over time.

“This is the most important single infrastructure investment the Tasman community will make in ensuring a sustainable future for our community. I only hope that it is not just the rate payers who will be footing the bill for the next generations,” concluded Mr O’Connor.

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