Farmers fear threat to irrigation

Meridian Energy Ltd would have to give up some of the water it needs for a new power scheme on the lower Waitaki River if it wanted to meet a demand from farmers to retain their almost 100% reliable irrigation schemes.

Farmers fear that when provisions in the Waitaki catchment water allocation regional plan are fully implemented they would lose that traditional reliability, which would have a big impact on farm production - flowing on into the local economies.

To overcome that, farmers are negotiating with Meridian for an agreement that it would provide water over and above the plan's minimum flow of 150 cumecs in the lower Waitaki River to retain reliability of irrigation schemes.

Without that, farmers face the prospect of having the minimum flow at which they stop taking water implemented at 150 cumecs - some at present have cut-offs at 80 cumecs.

Meridian has also proposed that, only if resource consent is granted for its proposed $900 million north bank tunnel concept (NBTC) hydro scheme between the Waitaki dam and Stonewall, will it make extra water available above the 150 cumecs minimum to ensure reliability for irrigators on that stretch of the river.

If NBTC did not go ahead, farmers would have to reach an agreement Meridian on the extra water.

Meridian's legal counsel Jo Appleyard yesterday told an Environment Canterbury (ECan) resource consents hearing in Oamaru an agreement had not yet been reached, and doubted it would be before the hearing is due to end on September 12.

Meridian's water infrastructure development manager Nick Eldred said Meridian was committed to discussions to attempt to reach some form of arrangement with irrigators.

Discussions had been on and off for the past four years.

"We have always recognised it would be preferable to reach an arrangement with the community," he said.

However, the latest terms presented some difficulties to Meridian.

Any negotiation was going to take some time and would involve all irrigators below the Waitaki dam, not just one group, Mr Eldred said.

Ms Appleyard said any extra water for irrigators would have to come from that allocated to new hydro schemes on the lower river between the dam and Black Point - water it wanted for NBTC.

During the current hearing, reliability has been a common theme from most of the 56 new or renewal applications the hearings panel is at present considering.

They also want the plan's minimum flow lowered to 100 cumecs.

Meridian supports those applications, with conditions.

One of its main worries is the effect of the allocation plan and the consents applied for on water for the proposed NBTC scheme and its existing generation.

Ms Appleyard the allocation plan allocated to hydro generation "all other flows" between the dam and Black Point over the minimum flow and that provided for other activities.

It was not specifically allocated to Meridian, but the company had applied to use it for its NBTC scheme.

If new consents were granted to farmers which exceeded what the plan had allocated for irrigation, then it would have to come from somewhere - either through a minimum flow lower than the 150 cumecs set in the plan, or another user.

If NBTC was granted consent and built, then the water would come from what the scheme could use and less electricity would be generated, Ms Appleyard said.