"This valley contains a whole range of artefacts and is an important record of mining in Otago," Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust vice-president Mike Floate said yesterday at a hearing in Cromwell to determine the future of the Nevis River.
A special tribunal, appointed by the Minister for the Environment, has been hearing submissions on an application to amend the existing Water Conservation Order on the river.
If the tribunal decides to allow the amendment, damming the river will be banned. If it decides to maintain the status quo, it will pave the way for dams on the river.
Dr Floate said much more was known about the significance of the archaeological sites in the valley, than when the original water conservation order was heard in the 1990s.
Some of these sites would be submerged if hydro development went ahead on the river, with the creation of a 5km-long lake as part of the proposal.
"Do we have to drown our heritage?" he asked.
"I call it Lake Woebegone, after the fictional lake. I hope it continues to be a fiction in the Nevis and is not allowed to become a reality."
The river needed more protection and the trust supported the move by the New Zealand and Otago Fish and Game Councils to extend the protection on the river by amending the water conservation order, Dr Floate said.
The valley itself was an outdoor museum of gold-mining methods used in Otago.
