Mayor’s column: Dam opening milestone for region

This Friday, the Waimea Community Dam will be officially opened. It’s the largest dam built in NZ in 30 years at 53m high with storage of 13 billion litres. Tasman District Council, Waimea Irrigators, Waimea Water and main contractors, Taylors and Fulton Hogan, deserve congratulations.

The Waimea Community Dam puts our Nelson-Tasman region in a stronger position on water management than in any other part of the country. Horticulture is our biggest earner at over $500 million per year – it depends on a secure supply of water.

The worst water-quality problem in the region was the ugly algae blooms about every second year in the Waimea River caused by low flows, high water temperatures and concentrated nutrients. The dam solves this problem by increasing the summer minimum flows more than fivefold to 1100 litres per second.

It also provides secure water for the growing populations of Richmond, Brightwater, Māpua and parts of Nelson City. The 2023 Census showed Tasman to be the fastest-growing region in NZ. It enables more housing and fewer household water restrictions.

I have been involved in this project since the devastating drought of 2001. I sponsored legislation through Parliament to enable its construction. I helped secure $43 million in Government support as Environment Minister and Nelson’s MP. Nelson City Council has also contributed $5 million for a share of the water.

There is understandable angst over the final $211 million cost, far greater than the $104 million budget from 2019. High inflation and Covid added to the overrun. Every major infrastructure project such as Auckland’s City Rail Link, Wellington’s Transmission Gully motorway and Christchurch’s stadium have similarly blown out. We cannot let these cost problems deter us from further investment given NZ’s infrastructure deficit. We do need to heed the learnings from these projects. Construction inflation needs constraining.

Dams are essential infrastructure that support growth and resilience to climate change. Other dams such as the Cobb Dam commissioned in 1956 and the Maitai Dam in 1987 were equally controversial but stand today as significant markers to progress. Completion of the Waimea Community Dam is a milestone worth celebrating.