Dam and river flushing

May I refer readers to the image printed in the Nelson Mail of the slime-covered rock taken from the Maitai River in April and ask, who would be naive enough to believe that ‘‘flushing’’ from a dam will fix that?

Nick Smith has convinced his fellow parliamentarians that having a dam will allow for some magic ‘‘flushing’’ of the baddies from the Waimea River. Really? Have a look at the often toxic algae-contaminated Maitai River (downstream from the Maitai Dam) and it is clear to see that his concept is complete fiction. And even if it were possible, where would we ‘‘flush’’ these contaminants to? The bays? There is no magic away place that disappears stuff. Water at the bottom of dams becomes anaerobic from lack of oxygen and can be the actual cause of troubles downstream.

Nick Smith said opponents of the dam are ‘‘too little, too late’’. Actually, Nick, we have been waiting over 15 years for the mayor to keep his word and let ratepayers have their say on this expensive and risky dam.