Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust is planning to commence work on its first small reservoir in the Kaipara in a matter of months, Trust chair Murray McCully confirmed today.
The Trust plans to construct a small reservoir near Te Kopuru before this winter and has called for registrations of interest to complete earthworks associated with the site. The reservoir would then be enlarged over summer 2021-22 into a much larger facility. The Trust has also called for tenders for works associated with the development of the irrigation distribution networks for the wider Kaipara Water Storage Scheme.
“The Trust has provisionally acquired land, subject to completion of due diligence and any necessary consents. It is now commencing a programme of engagement with parties interested in using water for horticultural production near Te Kopuru, including current and prospective landowners, post-harvest operators and the community,” Mr McCully said.
The Trust is calling for potential water users who might wish to join the scheme to register their interest via their website.
Mr McCully said specific details of the site would not be available until due diligence was complete and interest from commercial partners was confirmed. Mr McCully said he hoped that phase would be complete by the end of March. The Trust would also seek to continue discussions with the Kaipara District Council regarding the provision of additional capacity for the Dargaville municipal water supply.
Construction of the first stage of the Te Kopuru reservoir would require the cut and placement of around 700,000 cubic meters of soil, as well as construction of a dam embankment and other associated civil work and environmental controls.
The reservoir is the second to begin construction as part of the Trust’s wider plans to create connected water storage schemes consisting of multiple reservoirs in both the Kaipara and Mid North. The first, a 750,000 cubic meter reservoir near Kaikohe, has already been granted consent and the building of an access road to allow construction of the reservoir to begin is underway.
The new reservoir near Te Kopuru comes after plans to develop several other sites the Trust had been investigating on the Pouto peninsula were found to be unsuitable due to unfavourable and challenging underground conditions discovered through geotechnical investigations.
Mr McCully said the Trust was committed to developing a water storage scheme in Kaipara and other viable sites for further reservoirs were currently also being developed.
The Trust plans to have a presence and be available to discuss its plans with interested parties at the Northland Field Days in March.
ENDS 
About Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust
The Trust has been established for the purpose of progressing the Northland Water Storage & Use Project from feasibility into implementation. It consists of two separate water supply areas that are being developed in parallel: in the Mid North in and around Kaikohe and along the Pouto Peninsula southwest of Dargaville, in the Kaipara. Its objective is to create the infrastructure needed to promote sustainable land-use change to high-value horticulture which will in turn lift the prosperity of local communities and offer an alternative source of water for municipal supply.
For more information contact: info@taitokerauwater.com