As hot summer weather continues to dry out the east coast we are again reminded how precious water is for the livelihood of our region and our quality of life.
Sensible and sustainable water use in Hawke's Bay has become more and more important. We all have a duty to make sure there is enough for everyone, for our farms, orchards and vineyards, for our streams, rivers and lakes and for our families and kids.
There are plenty of discussions in our community about water - water storage, water bottling, the Havelock North crisis - but in the end we have to work this out together. Stakeholders in our community representing every sector are well under way on developing a plan to manage water use across the Heretaunga Plains. This group is called Tank.
Four big catchments - the Tutaekuri, Ahuriri and Ngaruroro rivers and Karamu Stream, feed into the Heretaunga Plains aquifer system. This is the focus of the Tank Plan, which has the job of reviewing water quality, water use and allocation.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council leads this project along with 30-plus representatives from our community including the other councils, sector groups, the District Health Board, tangata whenua, farmers and growers, and recreational and environmental groups. After several years of hard work behind the scenes, the Tank Plan is going to become a lot more public this year - when limits for water use, riverside planting, stock exclusion and other likely "solutions" will hit the table for wider debate and, ideally, agreement.
The Tank Plan is so critically important for our region because 85% of Hawke's Bay people will be affected by it.
We all expect safe, healthy rivers and waterways. And this might mean some trade-offs. Our aim is for a sustainable solution that manages water across these catchments and protects the health of the aquifer beneath our feet.
This is not an easy task. Those involved have been working on it for a number of years and there is now a significant amount of scientific research to better understand the ways that surface and groundwater intermingle across catchments.
The Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri rivers, Karamu Stream and Ahuriri Estuary each have unique characteristics, and different values to each of us. The Tank Group is trying to work out the best balance of these.
The aim is for the group to reach consensus and recommend a draft plan change by end of this year.
While work continues on the Tank Plan we are helping plan a Heretaunga-focused water summit for March-April.
This is a joint event by HBRC, Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated, Hastings District and Napier City Councils. Satellite water summits are likely to be held in Central Hawke's Bay and Wairoa at later dates.
The stakeholders will jointly develop a programme for the two-day event looking at the challenges facing the region's water resources and the potential solutions.
