Board checks mouth of Rakaia River

Press, 14 April 1984, Page 3

Board checks mouth of Rakaia River

Checks on the Rakaia River’s mouth yesterday found that it was open to the sea and a difference of opinion now exists on whether the mouth did close. The North Canterbury Catchment Board’s resource investigation’s manager, Mr M. J. Bowden, said yesterday that the river’s mouth had been inspected during the morning and the river was flowing to the sea. “We have no evidence to suggest that there has not been a mouth,” said Mr Bowden. Checks were also being made on the amount of water flowing in the river. Gauging was being done to get an accurate figure but it appeared to be flowing at

more than 100 cumecs, he said. On Thursday a fisherman and resident at the Rakaia Huts, Mr Mervyn Youngman, said the rivermouth had closed through a combination of a low flow in the river and big seas. Mr Youngman has lived at the huts for the last two years and works unofficially for the Ministry of Works logging the position and size of the mouth or mouths each day. He had gone to where the mouth had been the previous day to find it closed and had continued from the south side almost across the river without finding an opening. He had been riding a three-wheeled motor-cycle and had turned back be-

cause waves had been breaking over the bank at one stage. His. assertion that the rivermouth was completely closed was supported by another fisherman there who said that he had earlier walked right across the river’s mouth. Mr Youngman remained adamant yesterday that he was correct in spite of the Catchment Board’s suggestion that he might have been mistaken. He said a new mouth had formed overnight about 800 metres north of where the last one had been, but there definitely had not been one the day before. There appeared to be very little water flowing out, said Mr Young man.