Clarkesfield Holdings Ltd, owned by the family of David and Clare Easton, plans its own power scheme producing up to 296kW of electricity by taking up to 4.2cumecs of water from the river into a 0.2ha intake pond then along a 3.5km canal to a concrete penstock with a turbine at the bottom.
When contacted yesterday Mr Easton said they were still interested in going ahead with the scheme.
They were overseas on holiday at present and had not seen the resource consent decision.
"Until then, it's difficult to comment," he said.
The company applied to Environment Canterbury (ECan) in August 2004 for four resource consents for the scheme, had the applications heard in 2008 and yesterday received approval.
Clarkesfield Holdings leases a dairy farm on the north bank of the river on SH82 about mid-way between Hakataramea and Ikawai.
The scheme will be constructed partly in the riverbed, taking water from a side braid, and partly on that farm.
The scheme would not interfere with Meridian Energy's $900 million north bank tunnel scheme between the Waitaki dam and the Stonewall.
Even though it falls within the footprint of the north bank scheme, it has received Meridian's full support.
Meridian had bought the Clarkesfield property and Clarkesfield now leases it, with a buy-back option.
Electricity produced by the scheme would be used by the 563ha Clarkesfield dairy farm and probably by its 406ha Twin Terraces dairy farm, on the south bank at Papakaio.
It could also be used to expand spray irrigation and, in the future, even for battery-powered farm vehicles.
Any surplus electricity would go to local network companies.
The ECan hearings panel of former Environment Court judge Prof Peter Skelton (Christchurch), environmental consultant Mike Bowden (Kaiapoi) and freshwater scientist and ecologist Greg Ryder (Dunedin) granted the four consents for a period of 35 years.
The taking of water for the scheme will have to be reduced when the Waitaki's flow drops to 175.5cumecs and cut completely at 152cumecs.
The panel said the scheme was a non-consumptive use of water flowing past the applicant's property which would make its farming enterprise more sustainable.
There was likely to a substantial capital investment in the development and there were unlikely to be any significant adverse effects.
