FIELD TRIP

The field trip will begin with a visit to the Waimea Community Dam, a Concrete Faced Rockfill Dam (CFRD) located in the upper Lee River Valley, a tributary of the Wairoa/Waimea river system. The dam is 53 metres high, 220 metres long, and has a total storage capacity of approximately 13 million cubic metres. It captures high winter flows from the Lee River and releases water during drier months to support downstream river flows, recharge aquifers on the Waimea Plains, and maintain ecological low flows in the lower Waimea River. These releases help prevent the river from drying out during droughts and reduce seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers. The visit will also cover the dam’s design, operation, management, and associated control structures. 
 

The second stop will be the Waimea East Irrigation Company intake by the Wairoa River Gorge. This pumped irrigation scheme was one of the last built by the Ministry of Works in the mid-1980s. Water is pumped from the Wairoa Gorge intake to header tanks, then distributed by gravity through a fully piped system serving just over 1,000+ hectares alongthe eastern margin of the Waimea Plains. The area mainly supports intensive horticulturalcrops and vineyards, with some lifestyle blocks. The schemes operators will explain its design and operation, including the added complexity of integration with the Waimea Dam, where some shareholders hold full or partial dam shares while others hold none. The scheme includes automated controls for each offtake to manage water delivery to shareholders. 
 

Stops 3 and 4 will focus on a modern high-tech orchard and a large market gardening business that includes glasshouses, shade houses, 

and open-field production. Efficient water management is central to these operations, and the reliability provided by the Waimea Dam has been a key factor in enabling these sectors to thrive.

*the dam trip is weather dependant, an alternative itinerary will be implemented if required.