Beg to differ

Ray King’s letter in the April 4 CHB Mail raises a number of points I’d like to comment on.

Firstly, I’m pleased that he affirms that “The rivers in summer are at low flow because of the presence of irrigation drawdown”. From this one can also draw the inference that lower groundwater levels are similarly caused, as the two are interlinked. I fully agree with Mr King that there is a limit to the environment’s ability to cope. However, I beg to differ as to how to remedy this situation.

As with most other pro-dam supporters, Mr King again attempts to cure the disease by treating the symptoms and not the cause. He attempts to remedy the environmental effects of overallocation of water consents by proposing even more environmental destruction through the building of the Ruataniwha Dam, and encouraging intensified land use. And he justifies this by stating, “Sometimes we need to take a little to give a lot.”

With all due respect to Mr King, 85 per cent of New Zealand’s native forests have already been “taken”, so my question is how much more would he propose we “take” before it is enough? In the grand scheme of things, the 22ha parcel of DOC land, and even the full 400ha dam footprint, is a small area, but if we continue down the track of “take a little” here, there and everywhere, it will mean the death by a thousand cuts of our natural environment. There is enough scientific evidence that large projects like the Dam will have significant negative effects on our already threatened environment and biodiversity. On-farm water storage is a far better option environmentally, which a number of CHB farmers have already taken.

“Enough” was reached some time ago, and we seriously need to look at alternative methods to improve resilience, productivity, and profit of our farms.

Dan Elderkamp

Waipukurau