Historic project timeline

Project Timeline

Several decades of work has led to the Waimea Community Dam solution.

1979

Former Nelson Catchment and Regional Water Board commissions a study to consider building a dam in the Wairoa Gorge. Other small dam options in the Moutere geology area were also considered pre-1993.

Summer 2000 – 2001

Severe drought in Tasman highlights the magnitude of the water shortage issue.

2003

Waimea Water Augmentation Committee (WWAC) is established to look at options for water supply. Members include the Department of Conservation, Fish and Game, iwi, irrigators, plus Tasman District and Nelson City councillors and staff. A Tasman regional water study re-examines some earlier options as well as a dam for the upper Wairoa River with cost estimates.

2007

A large number of sites are examined, and gradually narrowed down through an assessment of engineering, environmental and social factors. From this process, the preferred site is chosen in the Upper Lee Valley. Interim water management measures are adopted.

2010

WWAC completes detailed feasibility study.

2013

WWAC recommends a private co-operative company be established to operate the dam. The Council is advised that there are legal constraints on funding arising from the proposed company model. New freshwater allocation policies and rules introduced to the Tasman Resource Management Plan to provide for minimum flows and rationing for either a dam or no dam.

March 2014

Changes to water rules in the Tasman Resource Management Plan come into effect.

September 2014

Waimea Community Dam Ltd lodges application for resource consent.

October 2014

Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency releases a report it commissioned through NZIER that shows regional GDP would reduce by between $17.5 million and $34.5 million per year without the Waimea Community Dam.

October – November 2014

Ahead of the 2015 Long Term Plan, the Council consults on how the dam should be funded and managed. The proposal for the Council to carry the full capital and operating cost of the dam is not favoured.

March – May 2015

Council consults the community on including up to $25m for the dam (33% of the estimated dam capital cost) in the budgets for the Draft Long Term Plan 2015 – 2025 and adopts this proposal.

March 2015

Resource consents granted “to allow the construction, operation and maintenance of a dam and associated infrastructure on the Lee River in Tasman District”, subject to a number of conditions.

2015 – 2016

Affiliated and non-affiliated water permits are introduced that change water allocation policies and rules for abstracting water in the Waimea water management zones, giving permit holders either high or low security of supply depending on whether they subscribe to the dam or not.

Early 2017

Tasman District Council and Waimea Irrigators Limited advertise for expressions of interest from contractors as the first step in establishing the construction cost of the Waimea Community Dam. Work on commercial terms, funding sources and options for allocating the Council’s share among different groups of water users and ratepayers started toward a public consultation later in the year.

June 2017

NZIER updates its 2014 economic assessment, showing the benefits of the dam are even greater than earlier estimates.

November-December 2017

Council consulted with the community on a proposal for funding its share of the dam, including information on rate impacts, and the governance of the project. Hearings were held in December and the final decision was scheduled for early in 2018.

February 2018

Council approves the governance model and the mechanism of using a CCO to oversee and manage the Dam project.

April 2018

Waimea Irrigators Limited closes its initial offer to purchase water shares, launched in March 2018. Later in the month it announces a successful capital raising effort of $16.5 million. More than 220 applicants sought to purchase water shares.

June 2018

Adoption of the Tasman District Council Long Term Plan 2018/28 that includes project funding. Adoption of the Nelson City Council Long Term Plan 2018/28 that includes project funding.

August 2018

Early Contractor Involvement process concluded with a project price estimate that was above the original budget. Partners investigated solutions to fund the $26 million gap. Council submitted a Local Bill to Parliament to allow it to access to land in Mount Richmond Forest Park for the purposes of constructing the Dam.

September / October 2018

A revised project budget was proposed that would fill the gap in the project construction price and Waimea Irrigators Limited confirmed their portion of the additional funding. Select committee hearings on the Local Bill were held in Richmond.

November 2018

Tasman District Council voted to proceed with construction of the Waimea Community Dam.

December 2018

The Government's Local Bill is approved, providing access to necessary land to build the Dam. Waimea Water Limited, the CCO, is officially formed and takes ownership of the Waimea Community Dam construction and management.