Te Kurawai o Pūhanga, the reservoir behind the Waimea Community Dam at full capacity. Photo: Supplied / Waimea Water
The Waimea Community Dam is now full, after recent rainfall in Tasman filled the reservoir to its full capacity.
The $198 million dam faced ballooning costs and was two years behind schedule.
Waimea Water chief executive Mike Scott said the filling of the reservoir was a momentous milestone for the project with water flowing over the spillway for the first time on Sunday.
A dry spell before the rain sparked fears that its shareholders - Tasman District Council and Waimea Irrigators - would need to take water from the reservoir before it was full.
Scott said river levels stayed up, so there was no need to take from the dam.
Last June, Ngāti Koata blessed and named the reservoir Te Kurawai o Pūhanga after Pūhanga Hemi Tupaea of Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Kuia, and Ngāti Toa descent - who is considered a reservoir of knowledge in traditional Māori arts, crafts, music, and tikanga.
Her tukutuku design, Whakaaro Kotahi, seen in the wharenui at Whakatū Marae, Nelson, is also on the New Zealand $100 note.
Scott said the final steps in the dam's construction - replacing temporary pipes and hooking up final pipework - should be finished by March.
Water flows down the spillway and beneath the Nick Patterson bridge. Photo: Supplied / Waimea Water
Final engineering analysis and verification of the dam's performance will be done over the next month, at which point the dam and spillway will be commissioned.
The flow from the dam is expected to support both horticulture and the domestic water wells near Appleby that supply water to the combined Richmond / Nelson water network.
Māpua, Ruby Bay, Brightwater and Wakefield also use bores in the Waimea Plains, benefiting from the recharged aquifers.