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Water storage supporters fight opponents' spin

A supporters’ group for the Community Dam, the best storage option for the region, has activated a multi-media publicity campaign to correct what it calls ‘spin and mistruths’ about the long-standing project.

People for a Community Dam is running the campaign on radio, print and digital over the next week, in the lead up to a Tasman District Council meeting on 28 August, when Councillors will decide whether to continue planning for a dam.

The group is facilitated by Morgan Williams, former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, and is made up of concerned citizens with wide ranging community interests.

Morgan says the group wants to remind Councillors and our diverse community that despite the loud noise from a small minority, there are a great many of the district’s 52,400 citizens who support the Community Dam as the best option for secure water supplies and a healthy Waimea river.

“We’re deeply concerned about the spin and mistruths being perpetuated by WIN and others, as though they’re representative of the wider community when they’re not,” Williams says. “Rest assured, when you have 52,400 citizens in the district, and 9,302 ratepayers in the Waimea “Zone of Direct Benefit” then a few hundred claiming to be “representative” of the majority is nonsense. Robust debate is essential but so too is recognition of risks and benefits and underpinning science and economics. Most people expect our Council to look after the health of our rivers, make sure we have water in droughts (and control it when it floods) and just get on with the job we elected them to do.”

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“We are also acutely aware that the dam’s project partners Central Government, landowners and Nelson City, are providing over 50% of the needed funding - monies that will not be available for alternatives,” he says. “Those many millions are only for the community dam, so if it’s not built then Tasman ratepayers will have to pay the entire cost of even more expensive urban water supply alternatives.

“The region’s highly variable climate means our water supplies are very risky in dry years” he says. “We know we face major water restrictions – yes, we must use water more efficiently and many of us are - but reliable supply is the ultimate necessity. The Community Dam is the most reliable and cheapest water tank for the droughts ahead. It will keep the river flowing, the ground waters topped up, keep salt out of the underground aquifer, and supply our urban water for generations to come.”

He says 18 years of quality research, study of options and community consultations, has led to the Community Dam being assessed as the best option for the region. People for a Community Dam is concerned that some Councillors’ focus is getting distracted by perceived risks of building the dam when the risks of not securing our water supplies are vastly greater.

“We feel a small noisy, mis-informed group is trying to hijack the region’s one and only chance to get an excellent solution to the region’s water supply,” he says. “Their ideas for alternatives were evaluated and rejected last year. They are doing the region a huge disservice by trying to confuse everyone about what is really at risk, which is our rivers health, community water supplies and the region’s prosperity.

“Unlike WIN, we are concerned for the environment, we are keen to support our local communities and businesses, and we want to avoid major water cuts during our increasingly dry summers, he says. “We are so very close to committing to the best solution. The biggest risk the Nelson Tasman Region now faces is if the Councillors are distracted from the good work that has already been done and decide prematurely, not to progress the dam.”

People for a Community Dam is facilitated by the CWS Advisory Group, which was established last year to ‘voluntarily provide advice and information…around sustainable water systems and supply for the region.’ The group encourages those in the Tasman district who are worried about our water storage future to talk to their local councillor about why the Community Dam is the best option.

To read more in the People for a Community Dam flyer you can visit http://peopleforthecommunitydam.org/

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