"Those councillors with land in the RWSS footprint can expect to benefit from this significant gain," he said.
CHB Mayor Peter Butler said the reason the meeting was conducted behind closed doors was because the council had a contract "put in front of us which is private".
When questioned about the potential conflict of interests CHB councillors could have, Mayor Peter Butler said "we all have conflict of interest, each and every one of us."
He then went on to list the perceived conflicts of interest of all councillors.
He said if the dam goes ahead, Ian Sharp's pharmacy business would grow, as would the business of Kelly Annand's husband who was a builder, and Andrew Watts who was a timber supplier. He said the properties of councillors Terry Story, Terry Kingston, Mark Williams and Maitland Manning would go up in value if the RWSS went ahead, and Sally Butler could irrigate her farm.
The Mayor did not say what his own perceived conflict of interest was.
"If we as councillors, put in a conflict of interest every time, we could not make a decision. We discussed it and decided we would all be able to vote and talk in our meeting," he said. "Every one of us had a perceived conflict of interest and we discussed it and we didn't discuss it for long because we all agreed that if this dam goes ahead CHB will go ahead."
However, Mr Deckard said the secrecy around this decision "does not inspire confidence" in the decision-making process of the CHBDC and left the public to wonder on what grounds the decision was arrived at.
"The one thing we do know for sure, it will cost all ratepayers more," he said. "Even ratepayers who source their water from their own property will pay for the towns to have Ruataniwha Dam water.
"The fact that the towns currently source their water from the rivers essentially for free and have consents for many years to do this just rubs salt into the wound.
"Open government and accountable decision-making were dealt a severe blow today."
Meanwhile, Labour water spokeswoman Meka Whaitiri says ratepayers have been "ripped off" to support the RWSS.
The MP for Ikaroa-Rawhiti said Thursday's decision was a "disgrace" and nothing less than an attempt to make the ratepayers of Waipawa and Waipukurau foot the bill "for a scheme that simply doesn't have the financial backing to go ahead".
"This is nothing short of a ratepayers' subsidy for a scheme that the council claims will improve the river's environment.
"They seem to ignore the fact that a massive dam will also have a huge environmental impact on the Tukituki," she said. "This was decided at a secret meeting yesterday and what is worrying is that council has obviously considered no alternative to this millstone around the neck of Hawke's Bay ratepayers."
Mr Butler said if Ms Whaitiri did her homework for her recent media statements without all the "falsehoods" he would take notice of her.
