The Guardians of Lake Hāwea made an appearance at a "community connections" event over the weekend in an attempt to educate locals about the negative impacts of further lowering lake levels to generate electricity.
The community connections event was a casual gathering organised by the Hāwea Community Association for residents to meet, chat and connect with one another.
The Guardians had a table at the event and Hāwea resident and Guardians chairman Geoff Kernick said the group had been corresponding with Contact Energy and had received confirmation the company would be lodging their referral for fast-track today.
It was unknown how long it would take to approve or decline the referral, but he expected the outcome would be known in about three weeks, Mr Kernick said.
Lake Hāwea’s normal water level sits between 338m and 346m above sea level.
Contact Energy has applied to lower the lowest acceptable level by 2m, to 336m above sea level, and a further 6m in emergency situations, to 330m above sea level.
If the fast-track referral was approved, Contact Energy would be invited to submit a substantive application, Mr Kernick said.
That would consist of a detailed proposal outlining its plans and how it intended to minimise harm.
It would have to involve consultation with affected parties, including the Otago Regional Council, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and local iwi.
One of the Guardians’ main objectives was to get the Lake Hāwea community also recognised as an affected party, he said.
"We want them to consult with the Hāwea community because realistically the Hāwea community and the environment are paying all of the costs of this change."
Mr Kernick said Saturday’s community meeting was one of the group’s first attempts to get the word out as many locals had been unaware.
"Everyone’s very supportive of what we’re trying to do ... lots of people have contacted us and asked us what they can do."
Some of the concerns the group shared with the community included access to the Hāwea aquifer, which supplies the community with water as well as the visual and amenity impacts.
Mr Kernick said there was a developing concern over whether the Hāwea and Hāwea Flat communities would be able to access water from the aquifer if lake levels were lowered.
There were also possibly negative consequences for tourism.
"It would be very noticeable for anyone driving around the lake ... you’d need your trainers to get out to the water first, because the water would be a long way away."
The Guardians had been in contact with the councils and the chief executive of Contact Energy, who said it was still very early in the application to consider community engagement.
The group was also urging locals to take action by writing to local MPs or contacting the councils or Contact Energy, Mr Kernick said.
