In 2018, the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme (RWSS) on the Makaroro River was discontinued following the Supreme Court of New Zealand determining the Department of Conservation (DOC) did not undertake the due process required to authorise the inundation of its land (22 ha) needed for the construction of the RWSS.

In 2020 a group of local and community leaders was formed to rescope the needs of the Tukituki catchment and to develop a strategy to help provide water security for the region. A key part of this work was the commissioning of independent analysts Lewis Tucker to re-scope options for providing water security by prioritising environmental flows, followed by ensuring water for people and communities and finally higher value food production and processing by using irrigation.  

The 2021 Lewis Tucker re-scoping report considered all potential water security options through a different set of priorities than RWSS, namely: 

• Te Mana o te Wai and restoring the environmental health of the river. 

• Mitigating (and remediating) the impact of climate change. 

• Delivering water security for people and communities. 

• Enabling higher value food production and processing. 

The Lewis Tucker re-scoping report evaluated seven alternatives against eight criteria to identify possible solutions for reliable water in addition to the ‘do nothing’ option. Doing nothing was eventually ruled out as a viable alternative, as it would deny opportunities to restore culturally and environmentally significant bodies of water in the Tukituki and Southern Heretaunga catchments at a time when climate change is degrading water quality and availability.  

The report concluded that water storage at the Makaroro River site was the most compelling solution to provide water security for the region on environmental and economic and hydrological grounds. 

The Lewis Tucker Report added that the reliability of the hydrological records supporting key assumptions had improved materially since the RWSS was assessed. From an economic perspective, the proposed TWSP provides a similar cost per unit of distributable water (m3) to recent comparable schemes. Additionally, the 20Mm3 of water planned for environmental flows underwrites long-term water security for the whole catchment compared with other identified short-term localised solutions. 

The report also acknowledged the proposed RWSS distribution may need to be reconfigured for the TWSP, to ensure water gets to the targeted, potential high land use locations of demand. 

Given the opportunity the project affords the region as outlined by the Lewis Tucker report, TWSL believes not acting now would be socially irresponsible and will constrain the social, economic growth and job opportunities for Hawke’s Bay. TWSL instead agrees the TWSP is able to meet the region’s new water security priorities, and is moving forward with the feasibility phase of the project.

In the media release - Mr Petersen acknowledged Tamatea Pōkai Whenua Chair, Pōhatu Paku, and noted the substantive engagement and work that has taken place between Mana Whenua and TWSP in recognition of the commitment to the value of ‘partnership’.