Whatever the ownership structure is, to make progress the Board of Inquiry has to use its one-month extension to seriously re-evaluate the evidence of experts like Niwa.
Niwa and the Cawthron Institute aren't muppets. Their evidence is backed by credible science so it must be taken seriously.
This dam matters to Hawke's Bay. We can be much more than one huge retirement village.
The Board of Inquiry's draft decision says it doesn't wish to burden good farmers while balancing economic development with protection of the environment. It may sound good in theory but that's not the practical outcome of its draft decision.
Its draft decision means existing sheep and beef farmers and horticulturists will need consent as our current farming methods will be deemed to be against the law under this draft decision. That is whether the dam proceeds or not.
If the board's draft report rubber hits the decisions road, most farmers will be caught in its dragnet. It puts the future of all farming on the fertile Ruataniwha in jeopardy, including me.
With Niwa and Cawthron Institute input, Hawke's Bay Regional Council wanted to strategically manage both nitrogen and phosphorus right across the catchment. This sensibly covered town and country alike.
Water quality is the responsibility of everyone in the community and it shouldn't just be about one nutrient. Yet the draft report focuses mostly on nitrogen and it doesn't make sense if you actually care about water quality. In a changing climate, locking the Tukituki River into a future with variable and low flows doesn't make sense either.
We now appear to have a proposal which, frankly, overcooks the emphasis on nitrogen so much that the pan has boiled dry. That pan is farming and the Hawke's Bay community.
This draft report will likely catch all farmers, not just dairy which some wish to focus on. We're talking the guys who grow crops, the guys who run orchards and even the guys who grow the grapes our region is famous for.
Sheep and beef farmers like me will likely need consent just to do what we do now.
I get that the Board of Inquiry has had a lot to do in a short amount of time. This extension will give them the space to fully re-evaluate all the evidence presented to them. It's a chance to get the final decision right.
We all know that Hawke's Bay gets dry and there's the prospect of climate change, so this dam provides an opportunity to make a real difference. This puts the ball in the court of both Government and the opposition parties.
We must call out empty promises of climate change adaption and regional economic development because Ruataniwha is both.
If you oppose Ruataniwha you are saying climate change isn't real despite a potential El Nino and that you don't give a rat's about the regions.
