As dry-season stresses on farmers and the environment grow, Fish and Game Otago will meet farming and other groups at the Otago Regional Council offices for a briefing today.
"It's a pressure situation,'' Fish and Game Otago chief executive Niall Watson said yesterday.
"Drought conditions are difficult for farmers and put real pressure on aquatic life,'' Mr Watson said.
Members of the Low River Flow Stakeholder Group, which includes representatives of Federated Farmers Otago, Ngai Tahu and the Ministry for Primary Industries, will attend the information-sharing meeting.
Mr Watson welcomed the group's second meeting this summer.
"We are confronted by very dry conditions.''
The Shag River was getting "very low'' in its lower reaches, and similar or worse outcomes could be seen in other waterways, including parts of the Lindis and Cardrona rivers.
He agreed with the council's emphasis on close collaboration between irrigators and other water users.
But Fish and Game was also pleased the council had issued its first statutory "water-shortage directions'' during dry conditions last summer.
Such directions arise during a "serious temporary shortage of water'', and can require water use to be "apportioned, restricted or suspended'', the Resource Management Act states.
Collaboration was vital but statutory powers should be used if necessary to protect aquatic life and the environment, he said.
"It's important that the environment is protected and that the council uses whatever mechanisms it has,'' he said.
"It's important at some stage to draw the line and protect the river conditions.
"It's not as if the minimum flow means a completely satisfactory aquatic environment - that's far from the case.''
The council's website yesterday evening advised of "low-level'' alerts in seven places: four on the Taieri River, including at Outram and Waipiata; Shag River at Craig Rd; Kakanui River at Mill Dam; and on the Pomahaka River at Burkes Ford.
The site said dry conditions in parts of Otago last summer resulted in irrigation restrictions for large parts of North Otago and Central Otago.
Council chief executive Peter Bodeker recently said restrictions of various kinds were already in effect in places where rivers had fallen to minimum-flow levels this year.
Mr Bodeker said farmers would continue to make most detailed decisions about agricultural water use.
Otago farmers had experience in dealing with dry conditions and low river flows, and knew how to manage water sensibly and collaboratively, he said.
The council was gathering and distributing information, he said.
Water-shortage directives would be used only as a last resort. About five were issued last year, the first time they had been used in Otago, he said.
