Over the weekend the Waimea Community Dam achieved a significant milestone with the dam reaching full operating level and beginning to spill over the spillway. This is an exciting and historic achievement for all the involved in the project.
The practical implication of this milestone is that Waimea Water Limited has met regulatory and commissioning requirements and can now make final engineering changes to allow the dam to be fully operational. These engineering changes will take a number of weeks and without a high likelihood of meeting minimum flow requirements from supply over the spillway it is likely that they will be made at the end of the summer. This approach will allow Waimea Water Limited to continue to maintain minimum flows and ensure affiliated permit holders do not face water restrictions.