The Lindis River may still run dry during hot summers, but not as often or as much, under a new proposal to improve the state of the waterway.
The Otago Regional Council yesterday decided to push ahead with initial consultation over its proposed 5A plan change which will set minimum flows and allocation limits for water takes from the river and the Bendigo-Tarras Basin's aquifers.
At community meetings it had been recognised the combination of low natural flows and high water takes from the river was negatively impacting on the ecosystem of the lower stretches of the river as well as on cultural and recreational values, a report to the council's policy committee said.
So it was decided an integrated management regime was needed that recognised the interaction between the Lindis River, Lindis alluvial ribbon and the aquifers of Ardgour Valley, Bendigo and lower Tarras.
That regime had been presented to a community meeting at Tarras earlier this month.
Council planning and resource management director Fraser McRae said while the recommended flows would greatly improve the habitat for fish in the river, it could still run dry for 100m to 200m from the Clutha River on a ''bad day''.
''There will always be water under the state highway bridge.''
At present, the river ran dry for up to 4km from the Clutha River during most summers.
The impact on water users would depend on whether they could take their water from other sources such as the Clutha River or from the area's aquifers which were recharged by the river, not rainfall.
The recommended flows meant in dry periods there would be pools for fish which were connected to cold groundwater flows that would improve their chance of survival.
To increase flows any further in the river would ''severely constrain'' those further up which had no other source of water than the Lindis River, Mr McRae said.
Earlier this week, the council's policy committee agreed to a timeline for consultation with affected parties such as Government ministers, Central Otago District Council, Otago Fish and Game and Ngai Tahu ki Otago as well as consent holders and local community representatives and organisations interested in the water management of the basin, begin next month.
An amended proposal would then come back to council for adoption before it went out for full public consultation in July.
