Irrigation companies swimming against the current
Friday, 3 August 2018
The future of two irrigation companies hangs in the balance due to consenting hurdles and Labour's cancellation of Government funding for new schemes.
Hurunui Water Project in North Canterbury and Hunter Downs in South Canterbury will hold shareholder meetings over the next fortnight to discuss options for the scheme that has split the community there.
Hurunui Water Project has also bought into an argument with Ngai Tahu by seeking additional consent to expand the scheme and and discharge 160 tonnes of nitrogen a year in the nearby Waipara catchment - already a nutrient 'red zone'.
Hurunui Water's chief executive Chris Pile said his company had put the Waipara application on hold while it talked through the issues with Ngai Tahu. The company had consents for Hurunui catchment and could go ahead without the Waipara consent, he said.
**READ MORE:
* 'I am ashamed': A Canterbury river's pollution starts a cultural debate
* 'The water wars': A council's proposal ruptures a divided heartland
* Hurunui Water Project to seek more shareholder and govt funding
* Hunter Downs Irrigation takes funding hit**
In spite of the 'red zone' designation, an Environment Canterbury panel has recommended granting discharge consents to Hurunui Water subject to 'adaptive management' conditions.
Counsel for Ngai Tahu, James Winchester, described this as granting consent on a 'trust us' or 'suck it and see' basis.
Winchester said granting consent would be environmentally reckless and 'directly contrary' to regional and national policy statements reflected in land and water plans.
'The [Waipara] proposal is highly dependent upon exercise of the consent to determine the nature and severity of adverse effects. This has been characterised as adaptive management but…it is highly doubtful that it is an adaptive management regime, either in fact or law,' Winchester said.
Hurunui Water's chief executive Pile was tight lipped about how much money farmers had come up with in response to a capital raising that officially closed two weeks ago.
The company offered 21,000 water rights at $3000 each, equating to $63m, the balance to come from bank loans.
'It's a bit of a juggling act. We'll get there. We'll just need to be flexible. There are a lot of balls in the air. Irrigation schemes are very complicated to get going,' Pile said.
He would meet with farmer shareholders on August 7 to discuss options.
The Hurunui District Council was expected to discuss its proposed $500,000 investment at its next meeting, according to councillor Julia McLean, who is opposed to it, and one of the few district councillors without links to the project.
Chief executives of the Hurunui Water and Hunter Downs irrigation companies will present shareholders with proposals from leading industry players including rich lister Gary Rooney and farming leader William Rolleston.
Rooney Group has loaned $2.4m to the Hurunui scheme, to be repaid if the water company obtains its funding target. The company will construct a lake surrounded by a 24 metre high embankment in North Canterbury to store water from the Hurunui River.
Meanwhile, Hunter Downs spokeswoman Stacey Scott said her company would hold a shareholder meeting on August 14 and discuss further funding.
Hunter Downs was also valued at approximately $200m and the withdrawal of state funding via Crown Irrigation Investments meant the company was unable to source bank funding.
Rich lister Gary Rooney was offering a funding option and so was farming leader William Rolleston.