$198 Million Later — And Still No Plan
A recent Stuff article by Catherine Hubbard revealed the latest twist in the Waimea Dam saga: irrigators and the Tasman District Council are now seeking a government bailout to cover a massive financial shortfall. The dam’s total cost has blown out to $198 million — nearly double the original estimate — and irrigator uptake has fallen well short of what was forecast.
The private irrigation company Waimea Irrigators Ltd was expected to supply $23 million in funding, but has so far contributed only $11.5 million and can’t afford the rest. And since all of the irrigators’ debt is underwritten by TDC, the financial risk ultimately falls on ratepayers. The Council is now considering raising its own debt ceiling just to cover the gap.
That’s the backdrop to a bigger question: Why subsidise water for land that’s being made unproductive?
“The land area that might use that water has been subject to substantial erosion” — not just from floods, but from poor planning decisions. Much of our most productive horticultural land is planned to be zoned for housing, mixed business and light industrial use. So why is TDC pushing to heavily subsidise water infrastructure for irrigators, while actively planning away the very land those irrigators would use?
Fewer irrigators means higher water costs for each one of them — and as Hubbard’s article makes clear, we’re now at the point where it’s becoming uncommercial. And yet Tim King’s takeaway is that the council can just raise its “self-imposed debt ceiling” and borrow even more to cover the shortfall?
This is not a strategy. It’s a slow-moving disaster.
We need joined-up thinking — not bailouts for broken plans. And beyond the obvious planning shortcomings, an independent inquiry may now be needed to investigate how such a massive financial burden was allowed to fall on our community in the first place.