Hard sell for Ruataniwha Dam

Wellington economist Peter Fraser, the author of a report questioning the viability of the Ruataniwha scheme, attended last night's meeting despite being denied the opportunity to speak. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Central Hawke's Bay farmers wanting to find out how they could "make the numbers work" with irrigation water from the Ruataniwha Dam were delivered the hard sell last night.

About 200 people attended a meeting at Waipawa's Municipal Theatre to hear from South Island farmers and growers with experience of buying water from irrigation schemes, along with local irrigators keen to expand their water use if the scheme goes ahead.

While critics of the scheme also attended, including Wellington economist Peter Fraser, who had been refused the opportunity to speak, they kept quiet during question time.

The meeting was organised by Federated Farmers and Irrigation New Zealand in a bid to educate farmers within the project's catchment on the business case for signing up to the Ruataniwha scheme.

In declining a request for Mr Fraser to speak, Irrigation NZ said last week the event was intended to allow farmers to hear the "personal experience" of other farmers who had used irrigation, whereas Mr Fraser was "talking about theory, not real-life farming".

The organisers billed the Ruataniwha project as a "now or never" opportunity and said the meeting was a chance to dispel "misinformation" being spread about the scheme and the cost of water that would be delivered from the dam.

Mid Canterbury farmer Rab McDowell, a shareholder and chairman of that region's Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation scheme, said CHB farmers should not be daunted by the large financial numbers associated with committing to the scheme.

He said an established "rule of thumb" in Canterbury was that if farmers spent $1 million on irrigation infrastructure, their property values increased by $1.5 million to $2 million.

While the benefits of investing in irrigation were not seen in wet years, it proved vital in dry seasons because it provided security of production due to to having a reliable water source, Mr McDowell said.

North Otago grower Nick Webster also talked about the benefits of reliability from being involved in an irrigation scheme, including securing additional growing contracts.

Hawke's Bay sheep and beef farmer Arthur Rolands said he would take water from the Ruataniwha scheme to increase the amount of irrigation on his property because it opened up further options for land use.

Another CHB farmer, Irrigation NZ board member Hugh Ritchie, said he believed it was a "pretty simple decision" to sign up.

"We're a whole lot better off with water than without. The time is now, people."

The Ruataniwha scheme is being promoted by Hawke's Bay Regional Investment Company (HBRIC), the investment arm of Hawke's Bay Regional Council which has conditionally committed $80 million towards the $275 million project.

The council investment will not go ahead if HBRIC cannot convince farmers to sign up to take at least 40 million cubic metres of water from the scheme.