Dams threaten environment

Press, 7 December 1978, Page 27

Dams threaten environment

PA Wellington The Environment Defence Society has issued a warning about environmental factors being “thrown out the window” during the planning of small hydro-electric power schemes. Electric power boards throughout the country have been examining the possibilities of building small hydro-electric power generating stations within their areas. The stations gain approval from the Government where they provide electricity to the local power board at cheaper rates than electricity available from the national grid, according to a society spokesman, Mr I. Cowper. He said the societv was alarmed at the number of such proposals and the devastation that some dams would cause. Environmental factors were “thrown out the window” in the initial stages of planning of such schemes and there seemed to be a general feeling that any scheme that was technically possible should be carried out, he said. The recent Wheao River decision appeared to have encouraged power boards to pursue some “outrageous schemes,” he said.

In the Wheao decision, the Town and Country Planning Appeal Board approved a scheme to dam and divert the Wheao River, a tributary of the Rangitaiki River. 50 km east of Taupo. Mr Cowper said evidence accepted by the board shows that the river is of world-class Quality for dry-fly trout fishing and is unique in New Zealand in providing a home for four different species of duck, including two snecies on the endangered list.

“The Appeal Board accepted that fish and bird habitats will be destroyed by the dam but felt that the need for electricity is greater than environmen-

tai considerations,” he said.

Other “unbelievable” schemes would result in the destruction of a large part of the Trounson Kauri park, Northland, and the wiping out of a number of rare ducks in the central North Island area, he said.

Mr Cowper explained hat local hydro-electricitv schemes were generally sensible and far preferable to the construction of oilfired power stations. But if all those proposed were developed, they would supply only five per cent of New Zealand’s electricity consumption, he said. “Individual schemes supply a very small percentage of the total national energy demand and any scheme with adverse environmental impact needs to be very carefully considered,” Mr Cowper said.