Meeting for Lake Ellesmere issues

Press, 10 February 1988, Page 5

Meeting for Lake Ellesmere issues

“Although the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority has determined that Lake Ellesmere is an outstanding wildlife habitat and therefore warrants coverage by a national water conservation order, comments will still be sought at a public meeting on the unresolved issues,” said the secretary and chief executive officer for the Conservation Authority, Mr D. G. Knowles.

The public meeting will

be held by the Conserva:ion Authority at Latimer Lodge, Latimer Square, at 3.30 a.m. February 18.

The Lake Ellesmere National Water Conservation order application was proposed in March, 1986, by the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Tapsell, on behalf of the Wildlife Service.

The application sought to protect the waters of Lake Ellesmere and its wetlands, which are recognised by conservationists as being among New

Zealand’s most outstanding wildlife habitats. One of the main concerns in the application was with channeling at the Lake Ellesmere spit. This was normally done by the North Canterbury Catchment Board to protect surrounding farmland from flooding. The large Ellesmere shingle spit separates Lake Ellesmere from the sea. The lake is periodically opened to the sea by cutting a channel through the spit at Taumutu.

Opening the lake to the sea caused concern among conservationists because of effects on the lake and its wildlife. For this reason the application asked for the order to require the North Canterbury Catchment Board to open and close the lake at certain times of the year to meet bird habitat requirements. According to the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority, several submissions had expressed concern at this

part of the application, many of them farmers and residents at Lake Ellesmere. The Catchment Board’s group leader in planning, Mr John Glennie, said there had been some worries about lake openings because many people were unsure who would pay for them. Lake openings are at present being paid half by ratepayers in the area and the other half by the Government, but that may soon change if the Gov-

ernment starts cutting back, said Mr Glennie. "When that happens the locals may be reluctant to open the spit, which leaves the problem of who will pay for the proposed lake openings in the application,” he said. To counter this problem the Catchment Board, supported by the Department of Conservation, proposed that the department be allowed to apply for water rights to do the work themselves.

It would then be up to the department, the Catchment Board and other affected parties to resolve the funding of extra openings and closings of Lake Ellesmere. Also sought by the conservation order was a prohibition on stop-banking and drainage around the lake, and it asked the

National Water and Soil Conservation Authority to impose “any other conditions which might be appropriate.” In reply, the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority Committee considering the application believed that protecting land up to this elevation was “not warranted.” The discussion docu-. ment and preliminary draft conservation order are available from the North Canterbury Catchment Board office at the corner of Latimer Square and Worcester Street, or from the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority, P.O. Box 12191, Wellington North.

“Comments are sought on the unresolved issues in the document rather than the original application,” said Mr Knowles.