Two salmon farm rights approved

Press, 29 September 1979, Page 3

Two salmon farm rights approved

Two water-right applications for farming salmon were approved by the North Canterbury Catchment Board’s water committee meeting yesterday, and two others will be studied soon by a special tribunal. An application by E. R. and M. S. Mee to divert 24,500 cu.m, a day in the Rakaia Gorge and discharge into the Rakaia River, and a similar application by D. B. Martin for the upper Hurunui River at a rate of 36,700 cu.m, a day, were both granted.

However, applications from Ashby Brothers, Ltd, and Isaac Construction, Ltd, were deferred for a month for study by a special tribunal, yet to be appointed. A fifth water-right application was approved, subject to several conditions, for a Woolston company, Independant Fisheries.

The company applied for a renewal of its right to store eels caught in Lake Ellesmere on its Woolston property, and to discharge the water and waste to the Heathcote River.

Preliminary discussions with the local bodies would begin soon, but it would be the best part of a year before a general authorisation had been, established, said the regional water engineer (Mr M.,J. Bowden). The Ministry of Works proposed Balmoral irrigation scheme was deferred until the Hurunui River allocation plan, still in the draft stages, has gone through. The Ministry had applied to divert 432,000 cu.m, of water a day from the Hurunui River to irrigate 5500 ha between the Balmoral State Forest and the Pahau River. A recommendation had been sought from the North Canterbury Catchment Board by the national body and the proposal will be deferred and studied by a special tribunal, to be appointed.

Numerous submissions were received from interested parties, many of which

differed considerably. The committee decided because of the nature and diversity of the cases presented, to defer a decision and refer it to a tribunal.

Two main questions to be resolved in connection with the Hurunui allocation scheme were the future levels of Lake Sumner and the minimum flows of the river.

The submissions to the Lake Sumner proposal all said it would be premature and possibly too restrictive to set lake levels now, and urged further consideration. This will be done.

Regarding the minimum flow proposals, submissions received from recreational and wildlife interests indicated that flow levels should be set as much as three times higher than those recommended.

The minimum-flow figure of 8 cumecs suggested by the Catchment Board differed greatly with the submission from the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, which urged a figure of 30 cumecs. Similarly, the Hurunui Salmon Company wanted a minimum flow of 21 cumecs, the Canterbury Jet Boat Association put its figure at 20, and the Salmon Anglers’ Association at 25.

But the Balmoral Irrigation Committee suggested a flow figure of 7 cumecs, and the M.O.W. felt that a figure of only 6 cumecs could be ! justified.