Partnership advances Heretaunga water storage project
Good progress is being made by a unique partnership of Heretaunga’s major water interests in assessing feasibility of a water storage facility for the Heretaunga Plains.
The Heretaunga Plains deliver approximately 80 per cent of Hawke’s Bay’s GDP. The Plains comprise fertile growing soils supporting world-class farming, horticulture, viticulture, commercial industry, and the major urban centres of Napier and Hastings.
The proposal is for a 27 million cubic metre water storage reservoir on private land at Whanawhana at the top of the Heretaunga catchment. The site would harvest peak water flows from within the catchment and the Ngaruroro River in winter and store the water for release into Heretaunga’s rivers and streams during periods of peak summer demand.
After a process to identify, investigate, and select a preferred site, the Whanawhana site was identified as the preferred location, providing a site at a scale suitable for helping Heretaunga address a projected water supply shortfall. The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) has advanced site investigations, including pre-feasibility, over the past five years.
A detailed pre-feasibility study was completed in 2023. After a brief pause in 2024 due to the region’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle, HBRC approved the next phase of investigations in January 2025. The feasibility assessment is fully funded and mandated by HBRC and the Crown, through existing Kānoa funding.
In November 2025, a group of Heretaunga Water interests representing Heretaunga’s irrigators and commercial water users; mana whenua authorities; and municipal water suppliers was formed to complete the project feasibility assessment.
In December, HBRC formally transferred ownership of the project to the new company, Heretaunga Water Storage Limited (HWSL), acknowledging that development of the option needed to be run and funded by the major beneficiaries of secure freshwater to the Plains.
Spokesperson for HWSL, Xan Harding, a Hawke’s Bay grower, said the investigations would determine whether the project was economically, technically, culturally, and environmentally feasible. It would enable comparison with any other viable water security options for the Plains and would need to be developed with a strong commitment to continued water efficiency.
He said an in-catchment, local facility for the Heretaunga Plains would protect the natural environment, build resilience into Hawke’s Bay’s economy, and enable sustainable growth.
“The feasibility assessment is a critical next step and in depth geotechnical and ecological work to support the feasibility assessment is well underway at site,” said Xan Harding. “We will continue through the feasibility assessment with a view to having this completed around the third quarter of this year, at which point we will make decisions around resource consenting.
“This is a very important strategic opportunity for Heretaunga and Hawke’s Bay’s future and we are grateful for the support for these investigations from HBRC and Kānoa,” he said. “We have formed a unique partnership between Heretaunga’s mana whenua authorities, growers, commercial users, and suppliers of municipal water to manage this process.”
“It’s vital that commercially disciplined private sector water interests inform the decisions around economic feasibility, as they understand the regional demand profile for water and will ultimately pay for it,” he said.