Waitaki catchment two proposals notified
This Saturday Environment Canterbury will notify the resource consent applications for Meridian Energy’s North Bank Tunnel hydro proposal and the Hunter Downs Irrigation Scheme, lodged by Meridian along with the South Canterbury Irrigation Trust. Both applications are to use water from the Waitaki River catchment.
The North Bank application proposes to take water from Lake Waitaki immediately upstream of the Waitaki Dam and tunnel it for hydro generating purposes; the Hunter Downs proposal would take water downstream of the dam for irrigation to 40,000 hectares of land north of the Waitaki and adjacent to the coast.
“While these consents are being notified first, other applicants need to be aware that this does not confer any priority on their applications for the water in the Waitaki catchment,†said ECan director regulation Dr Mike Freeman. Submitters have 20 working days until June 1 to make a submission on these two schemes. ECan would consider requests to extend the submission period.
Dr Freeman said the commissioner’s decision on which other consent applications will be publicly notified was expected before the end of May.
“There are a number of other consent applications that are likely to proceed to a notified hearing at the same time as these two schemes, but at this stage the decision on which of the 220 consents being processed will be notified is still being made.
“The Hunter Downs and the North Bank Tunnel schemes both propose the Waitaki River go below the 150 cubic metres per second minimum flow specified in the Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Regional Plan. Whether or not this will be allowed may affect the outcome for the other consents also wanting to use Waitaki water, hence the need to hear all notified applications as a group.â€Â
Meridian had sought a staged approach to consenting for its two schemes to ensure the water would be available before investing in engineering investigations, which ECan agreed to.
Hearings for notified consent applications are expected to start in August and continue until the end of this year.
This Saturday’s public notices will be run in full in the Otago Daily Times and Timaru Herald and in summarised form in the Oamaru Mail, High Country Herald and Press. The notifications will also appear in full on ECan’s website from next week www.ecan.govt.nz/Resource+Consents/publicNotifications.htm
For general information concerning the Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Regional Plan, visit Environment Canterbury’s website: http://www.ecan.govt.nz/Our+Environment/Water/Rivers/Waitaki+Water+allocation+Regional+Plan+operative.htm
For more information: Dr Mike Freeman, Director Regulation, 03 372 7233 or 027 589 7073.
The North Bank application proposes to take water from Lake Waitaki immediately upstream of the Waitaki Dam and tunnel it for hydro generating purposes; the Hunter Downs proposal would take water downstream of the dam for irrigation to 40,000 hectares of land north of the Waitaki and adjacent to the coast.
“While these consents are being notified first, other applicants need to be aware that this does not confer any priority on their applications for the water in the Waitaki catchment,†said ECan director regulation Dr Mike Freeman. Submitters have 20 working days until June 1 to make a submission on these two schemes. ECan would consider requests to extend the submission period.
Dr Freeman said the commissioner’s decision on which other consent applications will be publicly notified was expected before the end of May.
“There are a number of other consent applications that are likely to proceed to a notified hearing at the same time as these two schemes, but at this stage the decision on which of the 220 consents being processed will be notified is still being made.
“The Hunter Downs and the North Bank Tunnel schemes both propose the Waitaki River go below the 150 cubic metres per second minimum flow specified in the Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Regional Plan. Whether or not this will be allowed may affect the outcome for the other consents also wanting to use Waitaki water, hence the need to hear all notified applications as a group.â€Â
Meridian had sought a staged approach to consenting for its two schemes to ensure the water would be available before investing in engineering investigations, which ECan agreed to.
Hearings for notified consent applications are expected to start in August and continue until the end of this year.
This Saturday’s public notices will be run in full in the Otago Daily Times and Timaru Herald and in summarised form in the Oamaru Mail, High Country Herald and Press. The notifications will also appear in full on ECan’s website from next week www.ecan.govt.nz/Resource+Consents/publicNotifications.htm
For general information concerning the Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Regional Plan, visit Environment Canterbury’s website: http://www.ecan.govt.nz/Our+Environment/Water/Rivers/Waitaki+Water+allocation+Regional+Plan+operative.htm
For more information: Dr Mike Freeman, Director Regulation, 03 372 7233 or 027 589 7073.