Councils in water allocation battle
Two councils are going head-tohead as they battle over water allocation on a major Central Otago river.
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan has criticised the Otago Regional Council (ORC) over its plan to set a limit of 3.2 cubic metres per second on the Manuherikia River.
The river provides water to 15,000 hectares of irrigated land in the Manuherikia Valley, on the outskirts of Alexandra.
The district would face huge blow if the regional council enforced a water allocation limit so low that 9000ha of irrigated land could be lost, he said.
‘‘The ORC has yet to give any justification that I am aware for what will be a colossal economic blow to this district.’’
The allowed draw from the river is about 16 cumecs and was set during the region’s goldmining days.
It was a ‘‘paper number’’ only though, as the actual extraction was about 8 to 9 cumecs.
The regional council had failed to adequately explain’’ how it decided on the new 3.2 cumecs limit, Cadogan said.
ORC chairman Stephen Woodhead said Cadogan’s comments were ‘‘understandable’’ but the current limit did not safeguard aquatic life and the natural ecosystem during low flows.
Seventy-one permits had also been in place, with little restriction, since the mid to late-1800s and expired in 2021.
The ORC had ‘‘good data’’ collected
‘‘The ORC has yet to give any justification that I am aware for what will be a colossal economic blow to this district.’’
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan
over the past five years that was being used to further understand the hydrology of the valley, he said.
‘‘With respect to water allocation, the Manuherikia is fully allocated. We are not proposing to review allocation limits, as a part of this current plan change.’’
Cadogan’s sentiments follow that of the three regional councillors representing the Dunstan Ward: Michael Laws, Ella Lawton and Graeme Bell.
Laws has tabled a notice of motion for this week’s ORC meeting, asking for a halt to the planned minimum flow changes for the Manuherikia, Arrow and Cardrona rivers. ‘‘The proposed plan has the potential to be catastrophic to rural communities and the Central Otago economy. The fears and concerns expressed are entirely rational and understandable.’’
Otago Water Resources Users Group Manuherikia SubCommittee chairman Gary Kelliher said the implications of the ‘‘current unjustifiable fiasco of a process’’ were horrific for the whole Manuherikia catchment community, both economically and environmentally.