YOUR INDUSTRY
“THE DAM IS STILL THE BEST LONG-TERM SOLUTION FOR THE REGION’S URBAN AND IRRIGATOR NEEDS”
Waimea Dam update The Waimea Community Dam has been plagued by continual cost blowouts, but the chairman of Waimea Irrigators Ltd (WIL) says it is an intergenerational project that will enable horticulture to develop on the Waimea Plains. Anne Hardie Murray King says the proponents of the dam in the Lee Valley have been working on the project for 20 years and though the increasing cost of the dam is disappointing, the benefits will still be significant.
The biggest hurdle for the dam construction work and the cause of increased costs was the discovery of highly fractured rock on the site When the project was first put to the public in 2017, it had a price tag of $75.9 million. By the time it was commissioned in 2019 it was $105 million, and since 22
The ORCHARDIST : MAY 2022
then the project has been besieged with problems, with everything from geological issues to Covid-19. The latest increase takes the project to $185 million and there is a risk it will go higher as the remaining 30 percent of the build is completed. The biggest hurdle for the dam construction work and the cause of increased costs was the discovery of highly fractured rock on the site, with multiple large shear zones (areas of ground rock and clay) bisecting the top of the spillway, plus weak rock under the plunge pool. Added to the geological problems has been high inflation adding to the cost of materials and global supply chain disruptions, materials being in short supply and the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on staff and productivity. The mechanical and electrical works alone are now expected to cost $19 million more than the original 2018 budget.
