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Waimea Irrigation Dam or Waimea Community Bridge

18/12/2022

dam or bridge

The hundred million dollar question is “Will the Waimea Dam hold water or have we built a $200 million bridge?”

dam or bridge

In the December 2022 update Mike Scott CEO of Waimea Water, the dam construction company, tells us that we are still on budget but the budget is being stressed by various items such as the cost of the Mechanical & Engineering components that were never designed or priced in the original quote. Makes you wonder how we ever had a “P95” guarantee doesn’t it?

However, this has also been the story told to Council in the past. We are on budget but there are pressures. Nek Minnut a $30 million blow out. Never saw that coming! Not the first time, not the second time, not the third time. And yet here we are $195 million versus the P95 price of $76 million.

The dam is now about 84% complete as compared to the 75% complete at the last two updates. Because it 75% complete in the first update early in 2022 and then again 75% complete in the mid year update we discovered that the update percentage figure is tagged to the timeline and not the amount of work done. So, because the completion timeline was pushed out in the midyear update the percentage completed remained the same. We have now revisited the practical completion date, bringing it forward some months so the percentage completed jumps up accordingly. Who knows what percentage of the actual work has been completed between updates because we don’t measure that metric apparently.

What is more pertinent to the question that we should all be wanting an answer to (Will it hold water?) was Mr Bedrock-everywhere Scott’s comments around the grouting. Of course, most of the Councillors had no concerns at all in this regard, and were busy patting themselves and others on the back for doing such a great job to get this far.

Will all this work be in vain?

In answer to Councillor Walker’s question Mr Scott explains that the grout curtain seals substrata and stops leakage under the dam. It is a process where we drill 44 meters down into the substrata and pump concrete into the holes sealing up all the leaks. We budgeted for 5000 meters of drilling and now have completed 17000 meters of drilling which is much more than originally budgeted.

When Councillor Walker asked for clarification that they are drilling down to bedrock Mr Scott replied “No.” When then asked how far they drill he responds.”it is through the rock, all rock has permeability. The deeper you go down the longer the path so there is less flow so the grout curtain is deepest at the deepest part of the reservoir and it is through rock sealing up .. sealing .. or reducing the permeability of the rock.”

Councillor Greening followed up Councillor Walker’s questions with “In the past when you have spoken about grouting you have explained it in terms of drilling down to bedrock. Have we drilled down to bedrock given that was best practice or have we not drilled to bedrock and stopped at 44 meters?”

Mr Scott responded “Drilled through bedrock The dam is built on rock, we have cleared the overburden and got down to sufficiently strong bedrock to found the dam, drilled down through the bedr… through the rock up to 44 meters deep to reduce the permeability of that rock.”

Again, Councillor Greening sought clarification “we have got grout holes drilled down to bedrock and through bedrock is what you are saying?”)” And got the response “Through the rock that is right.”

One more attempt from Councillor Greening for a direct answer “through bedrock? draws yet another blank with Scott’s “yeah through yeah through founding rock” answer.

So what did we learn from that exchange? We learned that their initial site investigative work suggested that they would need to drill 5000 meters of grout holes. Once they started they decided that they needed to drill 17000 meters (up to 44 meters deep) of grouting. What we weren’t told is whether they believe they have now sealed the reservoir or whether they stopped due to budget or other constraints (such as still no sign of solid rock at 44 meters).

Mr Scott’s dancing around the answer of are they in solid bedrock with yes bedrock/rock/all rock is permeable/founding rock could be a confirmation of the word on the street that some of the holes were seemingly bottomless soft rock/clay. Possibly the result of building a dam on a fault line – sorry, according to Mr Kirby Council Head Engineer it is just a convergence of “shear zones” running through the dam site.

The stumbling Mr Scott did around the grouting “sealing up .. sealing … or reducing the permeability” also suggest that he was reluctant to say that the grouting to date was a success at sealing the reservoir floor, or sealing it sufficiently that we have a dam and not a bridge.

(sorry mostly sound .. skip to 40 seconds to hear start)

One thing is very clear, and that is that the initial dam site examination was woefully inadequate. If we examine Mr Scott’s comments in light of studies about dams we find that not only was the site selection particularly bad, but the investigation into the site was woeful, and now there questions over the construction process. But don’t take my word for it, lets have a look at some instances.

Our findings show that bedrock permeability is a higher-order control on flow path distribution across catchment scales, and hence on MTT scaling relationships. This is particularly significant as more and more researchers are finding that bedrock groundwater makes significant contributions to streamflow in catchments where the bedrock was previously thought to be impermeable [Gabrielli et al., 2012].
Source

This extract highlights that even “bedrock” can be more permeable than first thought, agreeing with Scott’s assertion that all rock is permeable. However, as he was reluctant to be committed to the term “bedrock” we are left questioning what kind of rock the dam is built on and where exactly it sits on the scale of permeability.

There are two main types of porosity: intergranular porosity that characterizes sands, gravels and mud, and fracture porosity in hard rock. Fracture porosity forms during brittle failure of hard rock or cooling of lava flows. Fracture networks that are connected can provide pathways for fluid flow even when the host rock is impervious (e.g. granite, basalt, indurated sandstone). Highly productive aquifers are not uncommon in fractured bedrock.
Source

Here we discover that “highly productive aquifers are not uncommon in fractured bedrock.” One would be “very surprised” to learn that there are highly productive aquifers under a dam site located between to major fault lines and sitting on yet another convergence of sheer zones! Doesn’t sound like a place you find fractured bedrock at best to me.

Fracturing of the rock commonly accompanies faulting, and a fault may be marked by a zone of fracturing rather than by a single fracture. Faults and the fracturing that accompanies them also afford avenues by which surface weathering and solution activity can attack the rock. Fault zones present a possible escape route for the reservoir water, and faults also indicate, in varying degree, the hazard of continued or repeated movement.Faults in the foundation and abutment rocks at a dam site and in a reservoir area introduce problems of bearing strength, stability, and water-tightness and, therefore, sites that contain them should be avoided. Stable dams can be designed for faulted foundations, but the cost of the necessary remedial treatment may be prohibitive.
Source

“Sites that should be avoided” if this was a dictionary entry I would suggest that the Waimea Irrigation Dam site would be the explanation following it. Not only can we expect a leaky reservoir, we can expect that there is likely to be further movements adding to our woes for years to come (should the dam be completed) and of course the remedial work might be prohibitive were it not for the fact that there is no off-ramp for this council. We must have the Kempthorne/King/Bryant/Mailing memorial no matter what.

Conclusions Monitoring of seismic activity
• Prior to construction,
• During impounding of reservoir, and
• During first years of reservoir operation is highly recommended for (i) large storage dams, and (ii) dams located in tectonically stressed regions.
Source

I found this comment particularly chilling. I don’t think there is any dispute that we have a dam located in a tectonically stressed region (in fact I would suggest we are right on top of a fault line), so have we been monitoring seismic activity at the dam site before, during, and looking ahead into the future?
As the article goes on to explain below, the pressure exerted by the reservoir water has the potential to create seismic events, especially in a site already loaded with shear zones and weak rock. This is important because any failure of the grout curtain, assuming it works in the first instance, could well see a failure of the dam by way of erosion of the foundation. I mean what are the chances of an earthquake cracking an unreinforced concrete grout curtain places on a fault line?

The statistics of dam failures performed by ICOLD [8] takes into account dams 15 m high or more or with a storage volume of at least 1 million of cubic metres. The results of this work can be summarized as follows (data from China and the URSS were not considered): the most common type of failure in earth and rockfill dams is overtopping (31% as a primary cause, 18% as a secondary cause), followed by internal erosion of the body (15% as a primary cause, 13% as a secondary cause), and in the foundation (12% as a primary cause, 5% as a secondary cause) ,,,
Failures leading to catastrophic consequences occur typically at first filling and full reservoir stage, although overtopping during construction has caused, in some cases (for example Panshet dam in India, Sempor dam in Indonesia and S. Tomas dam in Philippines), several victims.

A dam [38] radically alters the natural antecedent state of stress in the valley flanks and river channel; it adds weight, a more or less concentrated vertical load resulting in a complex compression and shear forces in the foundation. It transmits forces caused by loading during its operational life (water load, temperature effects, etc.). These forces produce compression, shear and often upstream tensile stresses. Water seeps into pores and rock discontinuities of the foundation; seepage forces can be considerably high and act in extremely unfavourable direction for stability of dams. The main steps of stability analysis of such a complex structure made up of rock mass and concrete structure consists of the definition of the possible modes of failure and calculation of the equilibrium conditions for stability. Geological and rock mechanical studies are required to evaluate the possible modes of failure and the variables of the problems. Analytical or numerical methods are used to assess dam foundation stability conditions.
4.1 Geological and rock mechanics studies
Geological studies with field explorations help to determine the feasibility of a dam and decide the general layout of the works including dam type and position. The first geological work [38] is to outline the regional and thereby the site structure, then the genesis and history of rocks and hence their stratigraphic, petrographic and tectonic descriptions which indicate the type of the problem to be expected. High-scale hydrographic and hydrogeological studies are required since a dam construction determines the presence of a new water reservoir which changes the original superficial and underground water flow. The principal purpose of rock mechanics studies is the characterization of the rock mass hosting the dam in order to assess deformation and strength features and to evaluate the geometrical and physical properties of singular and systematic rock discontinuities.

Filed Under: Dam, Your Say Tagged With: dam overruns, Waimea Community Dam, Waimea dam

13 Reasons Why-The Waimea Dam

15/10/2018

13 reasons why the Waimea Dam

Waimea Irrigators Ltd (WIL) have announced a new funding model for their share of the dam. The institutional investor that rode in on a white horse the day after the Council voted the Waimea Dam funding and governance model down has been side-lined.

[redacted] the institutional investor, whom we know not the identity of,wanted to de-risk his investment by shifting the risk of his shares onto theirrigators. The same irrigators who have shifted large portions of their riskonto the general rate-payer and urban water user. When the irrigators saw thatrisk was being shifted to them in similar fashion they started to squeal like a stuck pig and said it wasn’t fair.

Instead of this unfair arrangement they said they would like to fund the extra shares themselves, so [redacted] passed the hat around, and within a few days they had come up with an extra $11 million dollars from 13irrigators (and possibly one non-irrigating shareholder).

These are the same irrigators, who when we were talking about an $83 million-dollar dam said they were “at their limit” of payment and wanted Council (the urban water ratepayer) to buy more shares then the amount of shares we already had signed up for to more than satisfy our 100-year demand.

These are the same irrigators who were “at their limit” on the $83 million-dollar dam and could not possibly be tied to any dam overrun expenses, thus shifting 100% of dam overrun risk on to the general ratepayer and urban water user.

These are the same irrigators who were “at their limit” when the environmental flow components of the dam were being divvied out [these figures are a fabrication designed to shift cost from irrigators that should fall on the users for using the river as a conduit to run their water from the dam to their pumps like with all the plan B options]. The end result being that the general rate-payer had to pick up these costs (now a total of 52% of running costs) because “we all have to get there together or we don’t get there at all.”

These are the same irrigators who were “at their limit” on an $83 million-dollar project who managed to find “their share” of the increase in the dam budget when the project became a $102 million-dollar project – within a matter of days.

And now we see that within a matter of days 13 irrigators (plus possibly one other) are able to put their hand in their pocket to find another $11 million dollars. This would be in line with the comments by WIL chairman Murray King who said if the dam doesn’t go ahead they would spend more than four times their dam contribution to put in their own water supplies. 

Dam under hostage

The 13 reasons why this dam is being built have been revealed, and they will, once the dam is built, control the water on the Waimea Plains as they have a monopoly on water right allocations. They will set the price of any water shares sold and they will determine if the applicant is a worthy recipient of said shares.

[I am told this statement is factually incorrect. Council controls water right allocations through the TRMP, what the investment vehicle will partly control is the ability to affiliate and therefore get a more secure water supply.]

[redacted] This despite the fact that the general rate-payer and urban water user will be subsidising irrigators on the Waimea Plains for at least the next 100 years anyway.

On top of that we have still ended up with a scenario where the Council does not have a buffer zone between when irrigators are required to experience water restrictions and when the Council reticulation is required to experience water restrictions. I have heard all the explanations from staff how with the dam this won’t be an issue for 100 years. I have also heard how the Government could change what we currently consider to be an acceptable minimum flow in the river at the drop of a hat. I am also waiting to see that the dam works as described as we head into changing climate conditions. [redacted]

Filed Under: Projects, Your Say Tagged With: Funding, Waimea Community Dam, waimea irrigators

Dam Decisions

08/09/2018

Waimea dam decision

Congratulations to the Waimea Irrigators who have secured a subsidized water supply for the next 100 years (assuming the dam can be built, functions as intended, and lasts for 100 years). I hope the smaller shareholders in WIL are informed as to what risks they carry. Given that 2000 shares have been sold to investors only 3000 shares are target rateable in the event council comes knocking for a share of any overruns. I suspect that some of the 3000 shares are held by people with an exit strategy also, although councillors have no idea who the shareholders (or the investors) are.

Businesses on the reticulated supply will also be celebrating. However, I hope they read the fine print of this dam that they wanted so badly. I also thought a dam was a good solution, but not THIS dam. If the costs start to overrun then water on the reticulated supply is going to be eye wateringly expensive given that we are starting from a position of the most expensive urban supply in the country. One can imagine in this scenario that Nelson residents being supplied from Tasman will insist that Nelson City Council supplies them water, and in that scenario, there will be another million dollars a year (current prices) that will fall back on Tasman residents and businesses.

Waimea Dam good deal

Looking ahead (given that I have been accused of near sightedness among other things) we are destined for a similar problem that exists with the current over-allocation model. Urban supply should always have been protected as allocations were made on the plains. This did not happen and the council has repeated exactly the same mistake with the new dam supply model.

Given that the urban water user and businesses are paying for gold-plated shares in the dam (because it is not an irrigator subsidy) we should have a gold-plated supply guarantee. This would look something like a protected portion of the reservoir that can only be released to cover the urban supply. The deal that we have got is a deal where everyone is on the same restrictions.

During the summer the irrigators will be pumping full allocations and the tap on the dam will be opened to meet the demand. When the dam gets down to 20% capacity water restrictions will kick in across the board (irrigators, urban, and commercial). Everyone will end up on cease take at the same time just as occurs now. This will not affect the bulk of irrigators as they need the supply early in the summer before their fruit and crops are harvested. The most likely irrigators to be affected by late summer restrictions are market gardeners and dairy farmers extending their season.

However, the industrial users such as fruit processors, and the meat works will be hitting peak season as restrictions apply. Other industries also spoke about how they cannot afford any restrictions, such as the glue plant, cool stores, and the mall etc. Given the exceedingly high price our industries are paying for their “water security” I hope they are happy with the deal this dam offers for the next 100 years.

Since I am so nearsighted, my objection that there is no mention in the Terms Sheets of who pays for the decommissioning of the dam is obviously redundant also. But what do we care, we won’t be around in 100 years, right? Let’s hope this dam doesn’t need decommissioning before then.

In the short term I only have to worry about the degraded state of the river, a responsibility in our consents and under The National Policy Statement For Fresh Water (that doesn’t state we have to build dams contrary to what dam supporters keep telling me). The corners being cut in dam construction by flooding a huge quantity of mulched wood and stumps left in situ will be challenging to mitigate the effects of. It is highly likely that the running costs will blow out accordingly as we try and mitigate these effects – further adding to the burden on water users.

Of course, my concerns are only based on a few vocal nay-sayers and I should only be taking the advice of staff and their experts.

No doubt time will tell who are the heroes and who was the voice of reason. Whether dam advocates will be labelled as saviours of the district or whether the nay-sayers will be able to say “I told you so.”  But one thing is for sure, if this dam doesn’t deliver as promised, it won’t be the wealthy that will be left homeless.

pool celebration
Cheers

Filed Under: Projects, Your Say Tagged With: decisions, fine print, risks, Waimea Community Dam

Mistaken By Any Other Name

17/08/2018

waimea dam goldfish in shark clothing

While researching dams and risk contingency I came across an article in the Journal of the American Planning Association (vol. 68, no. 3, Summer 2002, pp. 279-295) called “Underestimating Costs in Public Works Projects: Error or Lie?” It details the results of a study looking at 258 transport projects across 20 nations and 5 continents suggesting that cost underestimation appears to be a global phenomenon. The study reveals that;

Four kinds of explanation of cost underestimation are examined: technical, economic, psychological, and political. Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, i.e., lying. The policy implications are clear: In debates and decision making on whether important transportation infrastructure should be built, those legislators, administrators, investors, media representatives, and members of the public who value honest numbers should not trust the cost estimates and cost-benefit analyses produced by project promoters and their analysts

Strategic misrepresentation is not only a transport related phenomenon and the authors also reference The Economist (“Under water, over budget,” 1989);

  • 1+1=3
    Of course the numbers add up

…anyone persuaded in this way to buy shares in Eurotunnel in the belief that the cost estimate was the mean of possible outcomes was, in effect, deceived. The cost estimate of the prospectus was a best possible outcome, and the deception consisted in making investors believe in the highly unlikely assumption–disproved in one major construction project after another–that everything would go according to plan, with no delays; no changes in safety and environmental performance specifications; no management problems; no problems with contractual arrangements, new technologies, or geology; no major conflicts; no political promises not kept; etc. The assumptions were, in other words, those of an ideal world.

We have already seen the Waimea Community Dam project budget blowout from $79-$82 million to in excess of $100 million. It would appear that a $26 million blowout before the project even starts, despite being told “we are 95% certain it will come in on or under budget,” would definitely be a contender for a case of strategic misrepresentation.

The case is all the stronger when considering that a number of questions had been asked about the robustness of the budget given the current contractor environment and escalating costs and also the extremely underwhelming figure given to clear and prepare the reservoir. To put the figures in context $1.2 Million was allocated to cover the costs of clearing and stabilising the 70-hectare lake reservoir in challenging terrain compared to (for example) $3 million to widen Bateup road, or almost $5.5 Million to upgrade Borck Creek (different in scope but also significantly different in scale).

The case for continued strategic misrepresentation is no less moving forward given the extreme pressure to reduce the budget to an “affordable” amount as the Council elects whether or not to embark on the Waimea Dam journey. A cynic might also reiterate that a lower quote price works in favour of those partners who’s spend is capped once a price is agreed upon and construction blowouts fall on other parties.

Local chartered accountant Ian MacLennan isn’t convinced that the true costs of the Waimea Dam have been revealed. His own research indicates that the true cost of the dam could be as high as $400 million by the time it is paid off.

It was “alarming to me that at no stage has there been open and honest financial modelling of either project risk or interest rate risk to underpin the discussions, decisions and commercial arrangements”.

In the absence of such a financial model from the council “I have prepared one as I was interested to properly understand … the true commitment TDC was making for ratepayers”.

MacLennan said he had taken publicly available information from the WIL disclosures for its capital raising and disclosures in the council’s Long Term Plan 2018-28 consultation documents, and calculated the GST-inclusive cash commitment required “as most of us ratepayers cannot get that back”.

Three build and operating cost scenarios, three interest rate scenarios and three loan-term scenarios of 25, 30 and 40 years, were run.

MacLennan made that 19-page financial model available to the council.

He said in light of a recent revelation of a $26m budget blowout, the minimum initial dam project cost would be at least $114m but could go “well beyond” $131m in his upper net project cost scenario.

MacLennan is also a believer that irrigators are receiving a subsidy by the urban water user and general ratepayer. “He estimated irrigators would gain at least 80 per cent of the benefit from the proposed dam, earmarked for the Lee Valley, but would pay $136m of the $300m-$400m project life-cycle costs.”

If the dam continues to be built under the current financial model McLennan believes there will be a significant transfer of wealth on the Waimea plans – perhaps of the magnitude not seen since the Maori first signed a deal with the early settlers.

A further explanation of MacLennan’s model can be downloaded here along with the figures that he produced downloadable here.

Council staff are having the figures independently reviewed for comment at the council meeting on the 28th of August.

An MPI study revealed a different story to that which the Mayor and staff endorse:

The Waimea Plains is one of New Zealand’s major horticulture areas and is highly reliant on irrigation. Irrigators draw water from a complex integrated surface water and groundwater systems. Freshwater resources in the Plains area are over-allocated in terms of quantity, 64% above the allocation limit. Water users face significant seasonal restrictions due to natural fluctuations in river flow and low groundwater storage, that is, water in the Plains is unreliable.

The proposed Waimea Community Dam (the dam) would address over-allocation and unreliability and would allow expansion of current irrigated areas. However, if the dam does not proceed, the Tasman District Council would have to phase out over-allocation by cutting back on water permits or making other changes to the management regime.

Strategic misrepresentation appears to be a significant concern across the boundary in Nelson City as well with projects going well over budget and work not being completed, meanwhile, governance is kept in the dark.

Nelson City councillor Matt Lawrey had the following comment to make on the Waimea Dam “My message to members of the Tasman District Council is that it isn’t just their hairstyles that have changed since the ’70s; lots of things have changed including the concept that you can save a river by damming it, the idea that it’s acceptable to socialise costs and privatise profits, and the notion that growth is justifiable at any cost.”

Lawrey’s not the only Nelson City Councillor who is not convinced about the Waimea Community Dam process, his colleague Paul Matheson said the process was “one of the most appallingly managed projects [he had] ever experienced”. “The water has become so muddied that it’s like a porridge that’s been sitting out for a while.”

Have we been sold a line of strategic misrepresentation?

I suppose I will have to visit the local barber to get the low down.

  • Councillor McNamara
    Photo Credit BRADEN FASTIER/STUFF

Filed Under: Your Say Tagged With: lie, strategic misrepresentation, Waimea Community Dam

Scaremongering Mayor

25/07/2018

scare tactics to sell waimea dam

After the announcement that the Waimea Community Dam has run millions, and millions, over budget before a digger has even put a bucket in the ground Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne has gone into over drive with the doom and gloom press releases.

As quoted by Cherie Sivignon in the Nelson Mail the Mayor says:

Water tankers may be needed on the streets of Brightwater during severe droughts if the Waimea dam project is shelved.scare tactics to sell waimea dam

“We’ll be slipping into Third World provisions [in a severe drought],” said Tasman district mayor Richard Kempthorne. “I think, the community doesn’t realise that’s what we have ahead of us without the dam.”

Kempthorne said he expected to be accused of scaremongering but the rules for tougher rationing in dry spells were in place under the no-dam provisions in the Tasman Resource Management Plan (TRMP). The rationing and related restrictions would affect rural and urban water users in the Richmond, Hope, Mapua, Brightwater and Redwood Valley areas including businesses and industry.

Of course, what he doesn’t mention is that if the dam project goes ahead as currently planned, there will likely be no inhabited streets of Brightwater. Already, they have proven that they have no idea what the cost of the dam would be, much less that they have any idea of the potential for overruns. Overruns that the ratepayers of this district are solely responsible for. There is every potential that the proposed $100 million-dollar dam could overrun by another $100 million like the Clyde dam. I suspect that by the time that the extra $30 million plus the potential extra $100 million is added to the rate bill of the residents of Tasman there will be a lot of cheap housing for sale as ratepayers file for bankruptcy.

It is rather ironic that when I argued that new residential builds should be required to put in water tanks like their rural neighbours it was argued that it would be too expensive. On the other hand, we can put up water rates by 1000% to pay for a dam and that is acceptable.

Staff have also been roped in to sell the dam at any expense.

“In the worst-case scenario, when there are cease-take directions, Tasman will face its own ‘Cape Town’ situation and people will collect water from tankers,” Bush-King said.

In the worst-case scenario with the dam going ahead we will face Cape Town like situations where a significant number of people will be living in cardboard boxes and shantytowns as they are forced off the land they currently own – if we are going to talk about “worst-case scenarios.”

Kempthorne agreed such a situation would not be palatable to ratepayers.

“That is why I have taken so seriously trying to bring in the Waimea Community Dam – because of the impacts without it.”

The council had a responsibility to provide a secure urban water supply and would have to look at other options if the dam did not proceed.

However, those other options were “considerably more expensive”, Kempthorne said.

I am pleased he explained why he has pushed this dam through with so many casting votes and spent so much money driving this project against the wishes of more than 80% of the consultation respondents because I had been wondering what his motives were.

However, he does again resort to gross exaggeration by stating that those other options were “considerably more expensive.”

Considerably more expensive than what? A $100 million-dollar dam plus full liability for all overruns? I don’t think so. He has conveniently forgotten to upgrade his figures unless Engineering manager Richard Kirby is going to revise the figures of the alternatives again to bring them back inline with the Mayor’s comments.

Last time Kirby revisited the “plan B” options they were found to be in need of some serious rescoping which increased their price by up to four times the previous budgets. When asked to apply the same scrutiny to the Waimea Community Dam he repeatedly came with the same lowball figures used to generate a P95 in 2015. It was a complete surprise when the quote missed the budget by almost $30 million dollars.

Even the recently inflated costs of a storage pond capable of supplying urban water needs for the immediate future is nowhere near the figures now being talked about for the Waimea Dam. While the initial potential plan B pond will not meet the 100-year projections, that they claimed to be able to meet with the dam, it will avert “Cape Town” like conditions in the near future.

Of course there are many options to avert urban residents begging on the streets for a cup of water including further reductions of the irrigation permits to bring allocation back inline with the new water availability requirements. Another might be to raise the price of water as restrictions are applied to ensure water is not wasted. Fixing leaks in the network is an option that many people are calling for, as are water tanks for urban users.

No solutions are going to be without cost, however, one thing is certain, the extra three million dollars that the Mayor used his casting vote to spend on the Waimea dam this term would have been better spent on a project that was affordable. Not to mention the thousands of dollars a day still being spent on the Waimea Community Dam project at the Mayor’s direction.

Filed Under: Projects, Spending Tagged With: Richard Kempthorne, scaremongering mayor, Waimea Community Dam

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Introducing Dean

Dean McNamara Husband, father, and a fourth generation local from rural Tasman. Now acting as your voice on the Tasman District Council (TDC). More about me.

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Councillor McNamara: As Reported In The News

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