River plan wanted before water rights considered

Press, 26 February 1983, Page 2

River plan wanted before water rights considered

A management plan for the Waimakariri River should be completed before two applications to draw water for irrigation were considered, the resource’ management committee of the North Canterbury Catchment Board decided yesterday. The applications for irrigation have been lodged by the Waimakariri-Eyre Scheme and the Browns Rock Group. The management plan is not expected to be completed until 1986. The committee made the decision after a discussion on a plan to allow the Browns Rock Group to draw water from the river during periods of high flow. The manager of resource planning, Mr R. W. Cathcart, said that a relatively high minimum flow level could be set, above which water could be drawn for irrigation. This would allow for a temporary water right to be granted until the management plan had been finished. He said it would be up to the group of farmers to decide if such a scheme would be suitable to them. It

could be a long wait between the higher flows which would allow for irrigation. Mr F. F. Wilding said it was an "excellent suggestion." “It is ridiculous to allow water to go to waste.” he said. The chairman of the board, Mr M. J. O. Dixon, did not want to approve the water rights before a management plan had been released. “We have told too many groups that we don’t do anything in the absence of a management plan,” he said. The decision not to consider the applications would not stop the groups from applying again with a different scheme. It would be difficult for the board to draw up a management plan knowing that people had already spent a lot of capital to use the water. “I know we could later say, ‘Sorry, but we boobed back in 1983, you can no longer have your scheme,’ but it would be difficult when they had already spent the money,” said Mr Dixon. The board's chief execu-

tive officer. Mr E. R. Wood, said he could see only two reasons how the board could grant water rights before releasing a management plan. One was if the application could be shown to have little effect on the river, the other if the application was a matter of public urgency. He said it was clear that the Waimakariri River was already under stress from varied uses of the river. Some committee members thought the need for irrigation was urgent and that the applications could be heard. Mr Wood said that it was not enough for the farmers to show it was urgent to them but that it was urgent to the general public. Mr T. M. Inch said that the public interest demanded that the water rights for irrigation be granted. Mr Dixon said that the public interest did not just entail irrigation but consisted of much wider issues. A report on flow levels of the river will be prepared for the committee by the staff.