THERE were two aspects of the Ruataniwha water storage scheme (RWSS) that disappointingly did not get covered at all in last week's Hawke's Bay Today-hosted meeting, and they're two "biggies": what happens at the end of the dam's life, and where is Plan B?
Regular readers will know my major criticism of the scheme is its attempts to answer the wrong question. In the face of climate change making the region drier, instead of mooting a "greenfields" expansion we should ask what is being done to protect the bountiful existing agricultural base that underpins our economy.
Currently, very little. Indeed, we're now giving away over a billion litres of top-quality water from the aquifers per year to overseas-owned bottling plants, with no real understanding of the impact on upstream supply in the future for our orchards and croplands - and urban communities.
Surely, even if the RWSS is a good idea, the regional council should be well down the track in planning suitable additional storage and supply for existing growers. But that's stuck in the "to do next" basket, kicking the timeframe for it out at least 10 years. If then.
And what if the RWSS fails to jump the hurdles it must to come to fruition? Where's the alternative: smaller catchment schemes that could be done on an "as-needs" basis.