Welcome Creek minimum flow considered

A small creek on the Waitaki Plains is at the centre of a battle between farmers, who want water for irrigation, and anglers and conservationists.

The issue caused controversy during an Otago Regional Council hearing in Oamaru last week on the council's proposed water plan changes.

The council is proposing a minimum flow for Welcome Creek, which joins the Waitaki River near the State Highway 1 bridge.

But opinions differ about how that should be done.

On one side are farmers who use the creek for irrigation water, and on the other is the Central South Island Fish and Game Council and the Department of Conservation.

All agree there should be a minimum flow, but the issue is when, how it should be set and what it should be.

While there is no set minimum at present, the flow is safeguarded by a cut-off of 700 litres a second (l/sec) on resource consents, at which point water takes must be stopped.

The council wants to use that cut-off as the minimum flow.

Farmer Bill Pile said that approach was "frivolous".

"It's all very well for people to come from Dunedin and do recordings when they don't know where the water is coming from," he said.

Farm consultant Jonathan Davis, on behalf of Waitensea Ltd, said the proposed minimum flow had been set without a habitat study to see what was required for the ecosystem.

Department of Conservation consultant Tom Heller suggested the creek continue to be monitored, with each application for water being considered on a case-by-case basis.

Fish and Game resource officer Devon Christensen said the current 700l/s should be retained as a minimum flow until further information was gathered about the creek.

Hearings chairman Duncan Butcher said the council had to decide whether to set a minimum flow, then check if it was right, or not impose a minimum flow and conduct a full investigation, which could take five to six years.

david.bruce@odt.co.nz