MP Nick Smith featured in the Waimea Weekly this week, using his Nelson Matters column to outline the benefits of the Waimea Community Dam.
“This is the best opportunity in a generation to achieve water security. We have spent over $6 million and 20 years on investigations, consultation, consenting and design. We have had capable community and industry leaders like the late Nick Patterson, John Palmer, Murray King and many others invest years of their life in developing a viable solution to our long- standing water problems…
"Some Waimea landowners with existing water rights may be tempted to do nothing. The problem is that without the dam, these rights will need to be severely curtailed to meet the new national requirements for minimum river flows… Now is the chance to grasp the opportunity, build the dam and lift our management of this precious resource.”
Read his full column on page 25 of the Nelson Weekly.