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As summer approaches and water shortages threaten, misinformation claims and hasty deadlines cast doubt on a massive water storage project in Wairarapa.
One of the two local iwi, Rangitāne or Wairarapa, feels rushed into signing the project, unable to conduct its own research on the impact of the Wakamoekau Community Water Storage Plan, a project of Wairarapa Water Limited (WWL).
The reservoir, in the foothills of the Cordillera de Tararua, has been presented as a balm for Wairarapa’s water problems, capable of storing 28 million cubic meters of water per year for rivers, towns, industry, land use change. and rural supply.
But Rangitāne or Wairarapa vice president Amber Craig said the December deadline was not long enough to “do due diligence” in approving the project’s cultural and environmental impact.
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Wairarapa Water currently has a proposal to extend the approval period by at least two months. “We want our own people to review it and determine the impacts.”
The iwi referred to the United Nations mandate that indigenous peoples have the right to give free, prior and informed consent that may affect them or their territories.
Supplied
The proposed Wakamoekau community water storage plan in North Wairarapa is designed to meet urban, industrial and agricultural needs.
The Resource Management Act also dictates that the relationship of the Maori and their culture and traditions to their ancestral lands be recognized and provided for.
“Rangitāne or Wairarapa will contest any project where we do not understand the full impacts through a robust and comprehensive process that considers our whenua (land), wai (waters) and tangata (people),” Craig said.
Iwi President Tiraumaera Te Tau said such a large project would have lasting impacts for future generations and create great environmental change.
“Our whānau are the descendants of the people who lived here, and we have a responsibility to them and to our future generations to ensure that these places prosper,” Te Tau said.
STUFF
The Waingawa River, which supplies Masterton with water, was reduced to a trickle last summer.
The Wairarapa Water Project website indicates that the storage area will only capture excess water, with no negative impacts on the surrounding waterways.
Freshwater ecologist Dr. Tara McAllister said any claims of zero impact on the environment sounded the alarm.
“It’s a really irresponsible view to say there will be no impact when you’re not considering it in the bigger picture,” McAllister said.
Any major decision about water had to be “a little more thoughtful when considering mana whenua,” whose mandate was to leave the environment in the same or better state for their descendants.
Wairarapa Water Limited CEO Robyn Wells said the company was committed to working with iwi and had been openly communicating and aligned with project timelines throughout the year.
A final resource consent request was due by the end of February 2021.
Wairarapa Water will continue to make “significant efforts” to achieve a cultural impact assessment of Rangitāne or Wairarapa that is acceptable to both parties, Wells said.
This project was not the only solution available, but it was “one that has been researched in detail for almost 20 years, has gained wide support. […] and financial support from a variety of sources, including central and local government. “
Piers Fuller / Stuff
Aerial view of the Waingawa River near Hood Airfield, Masterton.
The other local iwi, Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, had completed its cultural impacts assessment, funded by Wairarapa Water.
Iwi spokesman Rawiri Smith said it had been a quick turnaround, but he had evaluated the project and given his approval. “You are in a system, you have to try to work with the system.”
But he still had doubts about some aspects. “When you are representing how many hundreds of views […] It’s hard to say we’ve done well. “
It was about weighing the benefits for everyone involved, especially for the natural environment.
“If there’s a province that can say, ‘We have a brand,’ it’s Wairarapa; means sparkling waters [and] the water shines if you take care of it. “
