Associate Minister of Regional Development Mark Patterson said the government was investing in the future resilience of Central Otago’s primary industries with a $2 million Regional Infrastructure Fund loan to support pre-construction work on the proposed replacement of Falls Dam near St Bathans.
The funding would enable work on assessing options for replacing the 90-year-old dam.
The dam needs to be repaired and is is already inefficient. It supported 8000ha of land, Mr Patterson said.
The loan recipient, Manuherikia River Ltd will use the funding to confirm regulatory requirements, consenting, engineering and detailed design, procurement, construction costs, and financing options. MRL will contribute $2 million in co-funding towards the pre-construction programme.
"A reliable water supply is fundamental to Central Otago’s economic resilience. A new Falls Dam would provide dependable water for farms and rural communities, improve our climate resilience by storing winter and spring flows, and support farm conversions to higher-value land uses like horticulture and viticulture," Mr Patterson said.
The pre-construction phase is expected to take about two years to complete.
Manuherekia Catchment Group chairman Andrew Paterson said the $2 million announcement was a significant step in the future of the dam.
He said work had been going on for a very long time and construction was close to getting under way but it had ground to a halt in 2017 when a Labour-led coalition came to power.
The money was set to redo some work already carried out previously and right up to construction. It could not be used in any form of construction.
The plan was to make the dam reservoir four times as big. The dam had a 10 million cu m reservoir. It was still being finalised but the dam would have to be raised between 6-9m in height.
Mr Paterson, who is also a director Manuherikia River Ltd, said the enlarged dam would not cover much extra land.
He said the added bonus the dam would help feed town water supplies along the river’s path to Alexandra.
Ironically on the day the announcement was made to help secure the future of the dam, it is completely full after a wet season in Central Otago.
Manuherikia River Ltd chairman Jeff Grant could not be contacted yesterday.
