Yesterday, the Hawkes Bay Regional Coucil voted to invest $80 million in the Ruataniwha dam. Today, the board of inquiry upheld its resource consent decisions, effectively shitcanning the project:
The Board of Inquiry into the Ruataniwha Dam has upheld strict conditions which the Hawke's Bay Regional Council has said makes the $600 million water storage project unworkable.
The board has just issued its final decision, confirming nitrogen leaching levels from agriculture at 0.8 milligrams per litre, which would ensure the ability of rivers to sustain life.
The council has acknowledged the Tukituki River already significantly exceeds that limit, and it appears that would leave no room to further intensify agriculture in the catchment.
And that, hopefully, is that. Or will HBRC and the farmers demand National pass a law under urgency to allow them to pillage this river, just as they're doing for the West Coast forests?
