Firm commitment to irrigation wanted

Press, 2 May 1985, Page 23

Firm commitment to irrigation wanted

PA Dunedin Demands for a firm Government commitment to an irrigation scheme, with the proposed Luggate hydroelectricity dam, were made at a water rights hearing. The demands came from local bodies such as the Clutha-Central Otago United Council and from individual farmers whose land will be affected by the construction of the next link in the Clutha power generating chain.

The United Council’s regional planning officer, Mr W. D. Whitney, said the Otago Catchment Board should recommend the refusal of water rights for the dam, until the Crown promised to develop the Clutha River at Luggate for both irrigation and generation.

He said the council contended the Government was in conflict with the objectives of the Water and Soil Conservation Act by promoting a single purpose development in its applications.

Mr Whitney said the United Council considered the Crown should design and finance an irrigation scheme to the farm gate as an integral part of the dam project.

The Vincent County Council’s counsel, Mr M. H. N. Haggitt, said he challenged Government officials to reserve 17 cumecs for possible future irrigation of some 17,000 hectares in the area.

At the hearing, before a committee of the Otago

Catchment Board, representatives of the Crown mentioned 6.6 cumecs as being available for 8048 hectares, should an irrigation scheme be found to be economically justifiable. A committee member, Mr L. H. Cleveland, asked whether the loss of 17 cumecs of water would endanger the whole Luggate dam project. The Crown counsel, Mr K. Robinson, said it was thought it would be unlikely to wreck the power generating plan. In his summing up, Mr Robinson said resumed investigations into the economic feasibility of irrigation schemes for the region might lead to something that could bring water to about 500 hectares — or more than double the 230 hectares of farmland that would be lost through flooding when the dam is built. The Government departments were not preventing multiple purpose use of water and the region would get the benefit of $25 million, which would be paid to the dam construction force, over 11 or 12 years, he said. The Catchment Board itself sought a firm commitment to an irrigation scheme to be paid for by the Government as part of the dam project. The board’s chief engineer Mr D. J. Hamilton, said agricultural productivity in the Upper Clutha region should be retained or enhanced, not reduced. This could be achieved by an

irrigation scheme that was part and parcel of the hydro-electricity project. The present Government approach of monetary compensation under the Public Works Act was not sufficient for the region, Mr Hamilton said. Witnesses for the Electricity Division and the Ministry of Works and Development, repeated statements made at the start of the hearing that the Government was making no such commitment.

Mr G. N. Martin, of the Ministry’s Water and Soil Division in Dunedin, said completion of investigations into possible irrigation schemes had been authorised and would take 6-12 months to complete.

Until these studies were finalised it was not possible to give any undertakings in view of the Government requirements that any irrigation scheme be economic.

Answering a question by a committee member, Mr Martin said, nothing had yet been done to assess the possible social benefit of an irrigation scheme to the region as a whole. To another question, Mr Martin said the irrigation investigations to date had been done from the farmland aspect. Other forms of primary production had not been taken into account.

Giving evidence for the Guardians of Lake Wanaka, Mr Arthur Scaife said his only concern was possible problems from water backing up above the confluence of the Cardrona River near

Albert Town. In spite of assurances by Government experts that all would be well, he felt more research into this aspect was needed.

For the Albert Town Ratepayers’ Association, Mr Len Hansen, said a committee to monitor lake levels should be formed. He said an independant monitoring authority was more desirable than Government officials, but in response to questions, said he was not challenging the assurances on monitoring given from the Government side.

Mrs Fiona Rowley, for the Guardians of Lake Hawea, sought and was given assurances that the operation of the new dam would not cause a change in policy in the use of water stored in Lake Hawea.

Referring to the December floods in the Upper Clutha region, Mrs Rowley said the spilling of 200 cumecs of water down the Hawea River into the Clutha had not slowed the draining of Lake Wanaka.

She said studies had shown there would be much more damage if an uncontrolled flow of 400 cumecs had occurred as could happen when the Hawea River was in its natural state. A Government scientist, Mr lan Kowett, said the release of water down the Hawea River had no back-ing-up effect on the Clutha for more then 300 m above Albert Town. Mr Hamilton confirmed that in times of flood the maximum release of water down the Hawea River, which joins the Clutha near Albert Town, could have no effect on the level of Lake Wanaka.