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A deep mistrust of the Otago Regional Council was laid bare at an often heated meeting in Omakau last night.
The number of people in the Omakau Memorial Hall swelled to close to 200 to hear and discuss the five scenarios for managing minimum flows in the Manuherikia River but it was how the data was being presented that was questioned.
Andrew Newman, of the ORC, touched on the flow scenarios, which range from 1200 litres per second through to 3000 litres per second, but his audience included farmers who irrigated from the river.
It was a graph that showed the impact of the water flow management scenarios on ecosystem health, mana whenua, fishing and irrigation reliability that drew anger.
Manuherikia Catchment Group member Jan Manson questioned the information presented by the ORC as the majority of the Manuherikia was healthy and only 30% of it was degraded.
"Is there anywhere in the document that lets the public know that?"
She went further, asking if the general public understood flows and what a 3000 litres per second flow would look like at the Shaky Bridge in Alexandra.
"Would the ODT have photos of children swimming in that flow?"
A man in the audience provided an answer: "They’d be halfway to Roxburgh."
Mrs Manson said flow levels needed to be explained in laypersons’ terms.
Trust was a recurring theme in questions. Several people accused the ORC of skewing the facts by presenting the worst third of the river to the public — the stretch from the Alexandra camping ground to the confluence with the Clutha River.
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan summarised the general sentiment.
"People haven’t got a bloody clue what three cumecs looks like."
He demanded that information in photo format be made available as soon as possible, including offering to provide it himself.
Meanwhile, he urged everyone in attendance to make a submission on the plan and to encourage others to do so.
Submissions close on June 18. A report is due in August.