An Omarama farm has been granted two resource consents by the Environment Court to use water from the Ahuriri River and Manuka Creek for irrigation.
The applications go back about five years and originally relate to a proposal by Williamson Holdings Ltd to buy Killermont Station and develop three stand-alone dairy farms with a total of 3850 cows on the property, which borders State Highway 8 south of Omarama.
That, along with proposals from two other companies for another 13 dairy farms in the Ohau Basin with up to 14,000 dairy cows, caused an outcry and massive protests when they were first revealed in 2009.
Two companies proposing the development, including Williamson Holdings on Killermont, went into liquidation and their projects did not proceed. However, Killermont Station Ltd pursued some of the applications to Environment Canterbury for water for irrigation, but not for dairying.
They ended up in the Environment Court. The latest appeals were by Killermont Station Ltd and Meridian Energy Ltd in June 2012 and nine parties, including Central South Island Fish and Game Council, Minister of Conservation, Royal Forest and Bird and four local runanga became parties to them.
After discussions, the parties reached an agreement which resulted in a memorandum asking the court to make an order on two amended consents and conditions.
Judge John Hassan issued that on July 18.
One consent allows Killermont Station to take water from the Ahuriri River above set flows between September 1 and April 30 to spray irrigate between 250ha and 308ha for crops, pasture, sheep, beef cattle and non-milking dairy cows, but not for a dairy farm.
It is to harvest water at 189 litres a second (L/sec) when the flow is above 25cumecs in the river, reducing to 21.6L/sec when the flow is between 15 and 25cumecs and the take stopping at and below 15cumecs, all measured at the South Diadem recorder. There are also daily and annual volume limits.
The consent, granted to April 30, 2025, is subject to a farm management environment plan and includes conditions covering water metering, fishing screening, nutrients, fertiliser, water quality monitoring and annual reviews.
The second is to take water from Manuka Creek between September 1 and April 30, also granted to April 30, 2025. It can be taken at 37L/sec, but is progressively reduced when the creek's flow falls below 114L/sec and will stop at and below 65L/sec.
There are daily and annual volume limits. It will be used to irrigate 58ha, and the same farming restrictions apply, excluding dairy farming, as the other consent.
Similar conditions have also been applied to this consent.
