Farmer losing land to flooding
A Southland farmer says he is at his wits’ end after his property has been continually flooded by water released from the Manapouri dam.
Te Waewae Bay farmer Thomas O’Brien is facing the loss of 22 hectares of his family farm as water from the Waiau River continues to flood his property.
O’Brien said he believed the flooding had occurred as a result of the way Meridian Energy had managed the Manapouri dam.
With less water flowing down the Waiau River because of the Lake Manapouri water level being controlled by Meridian Energy, stones and debris had built up in the river near his farm because of a low level of flow, O’Brien said
For years he has tried to ease the problem with Meridian Energy but he has got nowhere, he said. ‘‘I don’t know what to do.’’ But Meridian Energy statutory and compliance strategy manager Andrew Feierabend said it operates the Manapouri Hydro Scheme in accordance with resource consents and other controls overseen by Environment Southland.
‘‘These controls include requirements for flood management in the Waiau River.
‘‘When Lake Manapouri is full and more rainfall arrives in the upper catchment, the water will go down into the Lower Waiau River, the natural course of the river,’’ Feierabend said.
The farm has been in the family for three generations and is now owned by a family trust.
It was one of a few privately owned properties near the Waiau River, and most of the land that borders the river is owned by Meridian.
O’Brien Trust member James Hennessey said before human interference, the river would have naturally flushed rocks and debris out to sea but, under the controlled flow regime, there was no flushing.
The accumulation of stones and sedimentary material on the western bank was pushing the river further to the east and it was encroaching more on the property owned by Meridian Energy, the O’Brien Trust, and others, he said.
‘‘Thomas is just completely frustrated and needs this thing sorted out. He’s really concerned for the estuary and the environment out there.’’
O’Brien doesn’t know where to put up a fence to keep his stock out of the water because it was shifting, he said.
In 2016, the trust approached the then Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay, who arranged a meeting between Environment Southland and representatives from Meridian Energy at the farm in December, Hennessy said.
‘‘We left that meeting thinking we had a way forward.
‘‘There were some things that the trustees had to do, which we did do.’’
The trust came up with an approximate value of the land and put that forward to Meridian Energy along with a request that the land be retired, Hennessy said.
‘‘We also put with it that we wanted Meridian to be more responsible about how they managed all of that area and that if the best thing for the environment was to retire it from farming they should do that.’’
They also asked that Meridian have a better warning system in place for those that bordered the river and would notify local farmers about changes in river levels so farmers could make adjustments like shifting stock, Hennessy said. But the meeting seems to have come to nothing, and Hennessy was critical of the lack of action from Environment Southland.
‘‘Our belief is that they are ignoring it because Meridian is such a large company and effectively subsidises various activities along the Waiau in terms of fencing and erosion and Environment Southland do not want to fall out of bed with them.’’
In an agreement signed in 1996 between the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, Federated Farmers Southland and the Southland Region Council it was agreed that the consent holder, now Meridian Energy, should make remedial repairs to remedy damage from erosion that occurred as a result of its consent, Hennessy said.
Feierabend said Meridian had been working with Thomas O’Brien and the O’Brien Trust and recently commissioned a report to look into their issues.
‘‘The report concluded that the situation in the Lower Waiau River is a consequence of natural river processes and cannot be attributed to the operation of the Manapouri Power Scheme.’’
Flooding in the Lower Waiau River was a matter for the Lower Waiau River Rating District and Environment South- land to manage, Feierabend said.
As for releasing of water from the Manapouri hydro scheme, Meridian had specific resource consent conditions to manage flows in the lower Waiau River and has in place a spill alert system for farmers when flows were expected to exceed 300 cumecs, he said.
Environment Southland director of operations Jonathan Streat said the council understood the concerns of those involved in the complex situation.
‘‘We are currently working with them to achieve a successful resolution and we are not prepared to make further comment while we are going through this process.’’