The Country 13/03/25: Michelle Sands talks to Jamie Mackay

The GM of Strategy and Policy for Horticulture NZ on the proposed new water storage facility for the Heretaunga Plains. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Long suffering listeners to the country will know that I
love nothing more than tall buildings and dams. In fact,
I love dams. We need more of them here in
New Zealand. And good news there is the prospect for
a new water storage facility on the Heratonga Planes in
Hawke's Bay, one of the most productive pieces of land
in the country. To tell us more about it from

(00:20):
Horticulture in New Zealand. She's the GM of Strategy and Policy.
She was the stand in CEO also between Nardine Tunneley
and Kate Scott. Michelle Sands Michelle, this is good news.
How far down the track are we on this new
water storage facility?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, I think that this water storage facility is just
going into its feasibility stage and so there's some more
work to be done in terms of that it's design,
but it is a really great opportunity for irrigators on
the Heretonga Planes. You know, it's a really important area
for horticulture. There's a great diversity of crops grown there.
But it's really the heart of the apple industry, with

(00:57):
over sixty percent of the apple industry located in Hawks Bay.
And at the moment we have a situation where the
groundwater is fully fully allocated or maybe over allocated, and
so in order for those growers to continue to have
access to reliable water, we really need to think about
how we can store and shear water better. And this

(01:19):
storage provides the opportunity to harvest tie flow, to store that,
to allow that harvested water to be used to replenish
the nutted or in the springs so they don't breach
low flows, and to enable growers to continue to take
water when they need it with the lesser infronmental impacts.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Without wanting to sound like the Prime minister, mister Luxon,
let me be clear about this, Michelle. This is separate,
is it not from the Tuki Tooki which is the
replacement for Rue tanafar am I? Right? Am I getting
my dams right?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, that's right. So the Tiki Tiki storage is on
the Tiki Tiki River which is south of the Heretonga
Plains there more in central Hawoks Bay, and the nutted
Or is the big river. It runs on the hairt
on the planes and so they are separate and they
do serve different different kind of catchments for the most part.
But Tooki took comes into the lower part of the

(02:10):
hero Toola, so you know, so they're complementary really rather
than than a replacement, and they serve different different areas
and their different scales as well. So this storage is
smaller than the TOOKI TOOKI.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
Someone else you loves stams and water storage. Storage is
the Minister for Regional Development. I call them the Minister
for digging it up and damming it up. Shane Jones
has he got his fingers involved in this one?

Speaker 2 (02:34):
I'm not quite sure about that, but it does. It is.
I think it has attracted regional development funding for this
phase of the feasibility study, and potentially it could also
be a candidate for fast track, but it may not
need to use the fast track process. I think that's

(02:55):
all to be determined in the future.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Just while I've got you, how is the harvest going
and Hawk's Bay? Oh?

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah good? And that havest is underway. The apple crops
looking good. It's been a really early season for kenny fruit,
of which there is fewer crops here in the Hawk's Bay.
But yep, we've had yeah good with this year for
the harvest is looking good.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Okay, Michelle Sands from Horticulture New Zealand. Thanks for your
time today on the Country. By the way, we'll be
talking to Shane Jones on tomorrow's show, so I might
ask him about this and get a plug in, and
I'm sure he will be a keen advocate for this
new water storage facility on the Heretonga planes go well, Michelle.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Thanks great to talk to you.