Catchment Bd will need 12 more staff

Press, 30 April 1984, Page 2

Catchment Bd will need 12 more staff

An additional 12 staff members will be required in the next year if the North Canterbury Catchment Board is to meet its extended responsibilities under the Water and Soil Conservation Amendment Act, 1983. The chief executive officer of the board, Mr E. R. Wood, told members of the resources committee that all divisions of the board needed additional staff — some for a year and some for five years. The additional staff required in the short term include an accounts clerk, a hydrologist and hydrological officer, investigating officers, technicians, a research assistant, and an. assistant engineer. Mr Wood said that it was important to consider the increased staffing levels with the report recommending the recovery of water right application costs. The proposal will again be opened for the debate when the board considers its estimates and makes a final decision on staffing levels. Draft Rakaia plan Board support for the draft Water Conservation Order for the Rakaia River was recommended by the committee. Mr O. J. Osborne, the committee chairman, said that he did not think the order had had any effect on submissions on the draft Rakaia management plan. A total of 46 submissions on the draft plan were received and presented in a summarised form for board members. Mr Osborne said that he had made inquiries at the Rakaia Huts and had been told that the high-water mark on the boat launching ramp there had not altered. He said this level could have been expected to be higher had the rivermouth not been open. Bulldozer recovery Recovery and repairs to the board’s DSB bulldozer which was driven into the Waimakariri River three weeks ago would cost $20,000, board members attending the operations committee were told.

Mr R. E. Reid, the rivers and drainage engineer, said that the bulldozer had been completely stripped and put back together again with the exception of the motor. He said the machine’s battery was in a locked compartment and that the instrument panel was covered with a locked steel cover. Both locks had been cut off. “It was apparently done by someone with a fair amount of knowledge,” Mr Reid said. » The operations manager, Mr B. P. Dwyer, said it was unusual that no-one had reported seeing the bulldozer being driven into the river and although several people had seen it there, none had informed the authorities. Board members rejected the offering of a reward for information about damage to board property as being unlikely to succeed. Shingle loss Between 500 and 600 cubic metres of shingle was removed without authority from the riverbank upstream from the Ellesmere bridge, making it necessary to restore the bank of the dominant flow channel, Mr Reid told board members. He said that generally there was no problem in giving people authorisation to remove the shingle provided they agreed to certain conditions, such as the area from which it was taken. Mr R. D. Gould said that this was too large an extraction to be forgotten. He said he thought the matter ought to be pursued, with council staff making inquiries. Firewood shortage Catchment Board staff will investigate the possibility of introducing multipurpose timber production that could result in firewood being sold to the public. Board members had earlier been told that signs prohibiting the cutting of firewood would be erected at the Waimakariri and Ashley rivers. The increase in solid-fuel burners and the availability of small, cheap chainsaws had aggravated the problems associated with taking firewood from riverbed areas,