A group opposing changes to a water plan for the Waitaki River, including lowering the minimum flow, has had a request to present further evidence to an Environment Canterbury hearings panel turned down.
The Lower Waitaki River Management Society opposes the change to the Waitaki catchment water allocation regional plan, which is being considered by a panel of three commissioners, chaired by retired Environment Court judge Gordon Whiting.
The panel heard witnesses in Oamaru and Morven in June, and will sit again in Oamaru on August 10.
The plan change has been put forward by Environment Canterbury (ECan).
It proposes changing the minimum flow of the river from 150cumecs to between 102cumecs and 150cumecs for some water consent holders, to provide assured reliability for irrigation and greater security when resource consents come up for renewal.
The society presented its evidence to the panel early in the hearing, after ECan had presented its evidence supporting the change.
Last week, the society applied to the panel to file supplementary evidence in reply to some submitters who appeared at the hearing after it.
Society counsel Richard Reeve said water resources engineer and geohydrologist Dugald MacTavish would provide the evidence, mainly relating to hydrology, efficient use of water, allocation and risk of water shortages for irrigation.
The supplementary evidence would relate to evidence which was not on record before the hearing.
Two other parties in the hearing, Meridian Energy and Waitaki Irrigators Ltd, opposed the society's application.
The panel declined the application and said the evidence in question was available before the hearing and did not constitute new matters raised during the hearing.
To grant the application would effectively be giving the society a second rebuttal opportunity.
