Ignorance over te reo weather embarrassing

THEY say ‘‘ignorance is bliss’’. But to be ignorant and know it, but not attempt to do anything about it, is just bizarre. I don't have a TV, much preferring other pursuits. Any news I want I can garner online.

I was reading this morning of some feedback garnered from ignorance on the weather report on One News being done in te reo and English, one comment even stating ‘‘this is New Zealand not Rarotonga’’. Seriously, that person didn't even know that Rarotonga is a completely different country and had no idea the word they were looking for was Aotearoa. Shame on you. These people are an embarrassment and stuck in a time warp that keeps them safe but keeps them ignorant.

To hear my mokopuna conversing in Maori makes my heart swell with pride. To those of you who deny the existence of three official languages in New Zealand, what sort of example are you setting for your tamariki and/or mokopuna?

Wake up, open your eyes and expand your intellect, just a little. If you are unable or unwilling to do that, stay in your cave and noho marire.

Yes, I had to look that up, but feel good I now know more than I did. Graham Bulman

Roslyn

Great opportunity?

THE headline ‘‘Pumped hydro plan ticks boxes’’ (ODT, 20.8.22) highlights the potential for electricity generation from Lake Onslow. The report goes on to describe Lake Onslow as ‘‘an elevated basin, close to an existing water source’’.

‘‘These challenges speak to inherent tradeoffs necessary when developing largescale hydro assets,’’ it says. What an opportunity for the Teviot Valley!

Irrigation should be a prerequisite of such a development. The elevated water could be made available to the whole of the Teviot Valley. This alone would relieve the demands on the Ettrick aquifer, and also get over the problems of irrigators who pump water from the Clutha River when it is running low.

Climate change is now a fact of life, so take this opportunity and futureproof our land and power needs.

Furthermore, the Millers Flat Bridge could be upgraded to twolane to get the heavy equipment required for the Lake Onslow development over the Clutha River.

Jim Barclay Clyde

Clearing silty rivers

THE recent devastation caused by a massive rainfall event in the Nelson and Marlborough regions needs some context around flood remediation work done prior to rain events.

It would be helpful if the Otago Regional Council could inform us all when this region’s river systems were last cleared of silt, both at the mouth and further back, to allow quicker removal of floodwaters.

Floods will always linger on flood plains depositing silt in the bed of rivers (Taieri, Clutha), which builds substantially if not dredged so as to allow for much faster draining.

The Roxburgh Dam has a huge build up of silt, as indeed does the Clyde

Dam. Flushing has limited impact as the bed of the lake consolidates and will not scour to the degree needed.

Can the ORC clarify?

Gerrard Eckhoff

Alexandra

ORC manager engineering Michelle Mifflin replies:

‘‘We have no plans to dredge/remove silt Otago’s river systems. Contact Energy has consent conditions it must maintain concerning Clyde and Roxburgh. We do assess gravel aggradation in our rivers through survey (such as Balclutha) which informs our decision to remove or realign gravel.

‘‘ORC (engineering) is renewing its global consents to carry out rivermanagement. The new global consent provides for gravel extraction for hazard mitigation which ORC (engineering) will use in river systems where the criteria for removal of gravel ismet.’’ ..............................

Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people. — Chronicles 1:10.